Despite drastically reduced state funding, it remains Expansion of photovoltaic systems in Austria this year at a comparatively high level. According to the market study “Industry radar photovoltaics in Austria 2026”, the newly installed nominal output in 2025 is expected to be just under 18 percent below the previous year’s value at around 1,700 megawatt peak (MWp), but still well above the 2022 level.
The decline is greatest for single-family homes
According to the analysis, the decline is particularly noticeable in the residential sector, especially in Single and two-family houses. Compared to 2022, almost 70 percent more power will be added, it said. Compared to the record year of 2023, the increase is around 27 percent lower.
General conditions are worse than in previous years
The general conditions for new investments are currently considered to be significantly worse than in previous years. This was designed for small systems previous VAT exemption replaced this year by an investment cost subsidy of 10 percent, which corresponds to halving the funding rate. In addition, initially only 30 million euros in funding were available, but the pot was opened in the middle of the year 50 million euros increased. In the previous funding program there were a total of 600 million euros in terms of government subsidies.
You pay for over 7 kilowatts of feed-in power
At the same time, according to industry radar, feed-in tariffs are leveling off at a comparatively low five cents per kilowatt hour. In some regions, the feed-in capacity for private systems is already so tight that the federal government is requiring operators of private photovoltaic systems Feed-in network fees wants to participate in network expansion – according to current plans, at least all systems with a current feed-in capacity of more than 7 kilowatts.
Over-promotion in recent years
“Apparently the switch to solar energy works quite well, even with significantly fewer government subsidies,” says Industrieradar managing director Andreas Kreutzer. In the funding years 2022 to 2024 there were “undoubtedly an over-promotion” given that the deadweight effects were “enormous”.