Solar power in Spain

This article needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (April 2017)

Spain is one of the first countries to deploy large-scale solar photovoltaics, and is the world leader in concentrated solar power (CSP) production.

In 2022, the cumulative total solar power installed was 19.5 GW, of which 17.2 GW were solar PV installations and 2.3 GW were concentrated solar power.^[1][2] In 2016, nearly 8 TWh of electrical power was produced from photovoltaics, and 5 TWh from CSP plants.^[3]

In 2022, solar power accounted for 11.5% of total electricity generation in Spain, up from 2.4% in 2010 and less than 0.1% in 2000.^[4][5] Industry organization Solar Power Europe projects Spain will more than double its solar PV capacity between 2022 and 2026.^[6][7]

Spain is one of the European countries with the most hours of sunshine.

The country initially had a leading role in the development of solar power. Generous prices for grid connected solar power were offered to encourage the industry. The boom in solar power installations were faster than anticipated and prices for grid connected solar power were not cut to reflect this, leading to a fast but unsustainable boom in installations. Spain would find itself second only to Germany in the world for solar power installed capacity. In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, the Spanish government drastically cut its subsidies for solar power and capped future increases in capacity at 500 MW per year, with effects upon the industry worldwide.^[8] Between 2012 and 2016, new installations stagnated in Spain while growth accelerated in other leading countries leaving Spain to lose much of its world leading status to countries such as Germany, China and Japan. The controversial "sun tax" and intimidating regulation surrounding solar self consumption introduced in 2015 were only begun to be repealed in late 2018 by the new government.

As a legacy from Spain's earlier development of solar power, the country remains a world leader in concentrated solar power, accounting for almost a third of solar power installed capacity in the country, a much higher ratio than that for other countries as of 2017. Many large concentrated solar power stations remain active in Spain and may have provided some of the impetus for large CSP developments in neighbouring Morocco. In 2017 Spain held large auctions for renewable energy capacity to be constructed by 2020: PV and wind projects each won 4 GW.

The 2020s are seeing a large increase in solar installations in Spain; following three years of strong growth, the country's updated 2023 National Energy and Climate Plan anticipates solar PV capacity reaching 76 GW by 2030.^[9][10]