European countries installed at least 8.61 GW of solar powersystems in 2017 – that is a 28 percent increase in comparison to the 6.72 GW added in 2016, according to a first estimate from Solar Power Europe, the association of the solar power sector in Europe. EU member states grew by around 6percent to 6.03 GW in 2017 from 5.69 GW in 2016. James Watson, CEO of Solar Power Europe, said, "Solar in Europe isgrowing, this is good newsfor the energy transition. Now we need the right policies in place to make sure the EU can fully benefit from our clean energy technology. If the trade measures on imported solarpanels were removed, according to a DG Justice and Consumers study we could see an increasein solar self-consumption in the EU of around 20-30 percent. Likewise, if the EU adopted a 35 percent renewable energy target, instead of today’s 27 percent, no less than 120,000 new solar jobs could becreated."According to a first estimate, the largest European solar market in 2017 was Turkey, which grid-connected 1.79 GW last year, followed closely by Germany, which added 1.75 GW. Turkey sawan end-of-year rush with around 800 MW of solar systems either under construction or installed, but whichwere not fully up and running in 2017. The total market share of Turkey and Germany was around 41 percent in Europe in 2017.
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Source: Solar Power Europe
