rooftop solar falls ground surges
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Germany’s solar energy push hit a wall in September 2025. New solar registrations fell to 920 MW, down sharply from 1.936 GW in August. It was the first time in five months that monthly installations dropped below 1 GW. Compared to September 2024, the drop was even steeper, falling from 1.28 GW.

Germany’s solar boom stalled in September 2025, with new registrations crashing to 920 MW — the first sub-1 GW month in five.

Rooftop solar took a serious hit. Residential installations fell 21%, while commercial rooftop projects dropped 33%. Rooftop PV capacity slid to 455 MW in September, down from 471 MW in August and 744 MW in July. Balcony solar systems, popular with renters and apartment dwellers, also reportedly declined to around 41 MW from 64 MW in July.

Ground-mounted solar told a different story. Those large, land-based projects had seen strong growth, with overall recent growth sitting around 20%. But even ground-mounted systems couldn’t escape September’s slowdown. They dropped sharply to an estimated 343 MW, down from 1.42 GW in August.

Germany’s total solar capacity reportedly reached roughly 112.25 GW by the end of September 2025. The country added an estimated 11.8 GW in the first nine months of the year. Despite that progress, Germany’s still falling short of its goals. Solar Package I, passed in April 2024, set a target of 215 GW by 2030. To hit that mark, Germany would need to add approximately 1.63 GW every month. September’s 920 MW didn’t come close.

Policy changes could make things harder for small solar owners. The German government’s draft reforms include plans to scrap fixed feed-in tariffs for rooftop systems under 25 kW starting in 2027. Those tariffs guarantee a set payment for power sent back to the grid. The economy ministry says falling costs mean small rooftop solar doesn’t need those subsidies anymore. Critics disagree, with BSW-Solar calling the draft reforms a “frontal attack” on Germany’s energy transition. All of these figures are tracked and reported by BNetzA, Germany’s federal network agency responsible for monitoring energy infrastructure registrations.

The broader picture matters too. The EU estimates rooftop solar across its 271 million buildings could reach 2.3 TWp of potential capacity. That could eventually cover 40% of Europe’s long-term energy demand. But Germany’s September numbers show the path there isn’t guaranteed.

✅ Claims in this article were verified using AI-assisted fact-checking.

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