Chart: Hungary is Leading the World in Solar Adoption / Five years ago, Hungary got only 7% of its power from solar. Today, it gets 25%. China generates more clean power than anywhere else, but only gets about 8% of its electricity from solar #GlobalCarbonFeeAndDividendPetition

2 comments

1. I note that all four of the “solarest” countries are not only sunny but also recently developed places that are historically poor, with gaps in power infrastructure that solar can fill.

2. It looks like Ember (original source of the data) attributes Hungary’s solar leadership to favorable net-metering and feed-in tariffs as well as high energy prices which together incentivized a rapid build-out of both residential and utility solar:

   « Hungary’s remarkable rise to global solar leadership in recent years was driven by both utility-scale and residential installations. Up until 2023, Hungary had a favourable net-metering system in place, in which self-generated electricity can be deducted from consumed electricity on a yearly basis. It also implemented a feed-in tariff scheme, known as KÁT, which guaranteed long-term, above-market electricity purchase prices and priority grid access for producers. Coupled with high energy prices, this created powerful incentives for solar investment. »

   Unfortunately, Ember also thinks changes to these policies might slow growth in the future:

   « However, momentum slowed sharply in 2024 following a series of political decisions affecting renewable energy policy. In 2023, Hungary replaced its net-metering system with a net billing scheme. This policy shift triggered a downturn in the residential solar segment. On the utility-scale side, most new capacity commissioned in 2024 was built under the legacy KÁT scheme, but with few new projects in the pipeline and no new grid connection permits issued in the past two years, this segment is also facing stagnation. »
   https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/turning-to-the-sun-solar-rise-in-central-europe/

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