The first study on the potential of solar rooftops across 271 million buildings. Crucial to achieving climate neutrality by 2050, yet today only 10% of European roofs are equipped with PV systems
What is the value, in Europe, of photovoltaic roofs in terms of reducing land consumption and producing clean energy? What is their adoption potential in the coming years? In which countries, and with what results? The first mapping exercise, complete with estimates — an absolute first — has been carried out by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre.
The photovoltaic potential of residential and non-residential roofs was estimated at individual building level using the Digital Building Stock Model in its latest release, the 2025 version. This contains a high-resolution geospatial dataset covering 271 million European buildings, for a total surface area of around 37,370 square kilometres. The analysis, published in Nature Energy, first shows that the roofs of the buildings in question could host around 2.3 terawatts of solar photovoltaic capacity. Of this, 1,800 GWp would be on residential buildings — which account for the largest share of total buildings, between 87% and 97% depending on the country — and 500 GWp on non-residential buildings. Together, they could generate around 2,750 terawatt-hours of electricity per year: a figure equivalent to 40% of the electricity needed in a future net-zero scenario by 2050.
Rooftop photovoltaics could therefore play a decisive role in achieving the EU’s climate and energy objectives in both the short and long term, especially taking into account technological progress: energy conversion efficiency rose from 18% in 2018 to 22% in 2025. “To date, only around 10% of European roofs are equipped with photovoltaics, highlighting substantial untapped potential to generate clean energy,” the study states. It also specifies that using rooftop PV brings numerous benefits, including reductions in CO2 emissions, cooling of roof surfaces — further improved when combined with green roofs — immediate reductions in energy bills and an increase in property values of more than 66%.
“Accelerating the deployment of photovoltaic roofs should therefore be a priority for policymakers”, not least because buildings in the European Union account for around 42% of total energy consumption and 36% of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions.
“Achieving the European Union’s target of climate neutrality by 2050 will require substantial building renovations, since 85-95% of existing buildings are expected to remain in use by 2050. This represents an opportunity to integrate photovoltaic systems into building renovations, while at the same time improving their energy efficiency.”
Almost all EU countries have a potential of more than 40 GWp, corresponding to between 32 TWh and 60 TWh per year depending on local solar irradiation. For most countries — with the exception of Cyprus, Finland and Sweden — the potential electricity generation could represent more than 50% of current electricity consumption. Germany and France are the countries with the highest rooftop PV potential, at 394 TWh and 432 TWh respectively, which could meet more than 80% of their current electricity demand. Several countries could match or exceed their current consumption, particularly Greece, Hungary and Romania. Photovoltaic capacity increases sharply with building size: buildings larger than 2,000 square metres have the highest potential, particularly in Germany, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands.
“The results show that, already by 2030, more than 50% of the photovoltaic capacity envisaged in individual EU countries’ plans could, in most cases, be met by non-residential rooftop PV alone. Identifying regions with high photovoltaic potential can foster the growth of energy communities, encourage public-private partnerships and support decentralised energy initiatives, empowering municipalities, cities and local stakeholders to plan tailored energy strategies according to their needs. It could also support community solar projects, allowing multiple households or businesses to share the benefits of a single photovoltaic installation.”
It should also be considered that the potential could be much higher. The integration of photovoltaics is not limited to roofs, but extends to the entire building envelope: photovoltaic modules can be used as façade cladding, offering thermal and acoustic insulation in addition to energy production. They are available in various colours and finishes, including metallic effects. Transparent or semi-transparent glass with integrated photovoltaic cells is also on the market, for use in skylights, windows, verandas and balcony balustrades, providing natural light, insulation and energy generation at the same time. Brise-soleil and shading elements can also combine solar protection with electricity production as part of the architectural design.
Cover image: © Adobe Stock
