The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has announced a mandate for rooftop solar on commercial and public buildings by 2027, and for residential buildings by 2029. The EU target for renewable energy has been increased from 40% to 45%.

Policy content and objectives:

The European Commission is taking its “mission to become independent from Russian fossil fuels as quickly as possible” to “another level,” EC President Ursula von der Leyen said at a press conference for the REPowerEU plan.

The commission is proposing a solar rooftop requirement for commercial and public buildings from 2027, and for new residential buildings from 2029. “I know this is ambitious, but it is realistic, we can do it,” said von der Leyen, noting that investment in renewables is the bloc’s “biggest task.”

The commission also said that it is increasing its renewable energy target for 2030 from 40% to 45%. Faster permits for renewables will play a key role in achieving the higher target, she said. It also wants member states to set “renewables go-to-areas” for swift permitting. “There the permitting process is down to one year,” a substantial improvement on the current average of six to nine years, said von der Leyen.

The strategy also sets a 592 GWac (740 GWdc) target for solar in the European Union by 2030. “This target is higher than SolarPower Europe Global Market Outlook business-as-usual projections of 672 GWdc by the end of the decade,” trade body SolarPower Europe said in a statement released.

Applications for renewable energy systems in go-to areas would be entitled to decisions within 14 days, according to a document. Repowered sites in such areas would need to be permitted within six to nine months. The same would apply to systems with generation capacities of less than 150 kW. Other proposals announced include an increase of the EU energy efficiency target for 2030, from 9% to 13%.

Future vision:

“Today the European Commission recognises the immense potential of rooftop solar – as well as the need for a solar workforce to roll out both rooftop and utility solar across Europe,” said Dries Acke, policy director at SolarPower Europe. “We foresee up to 1.1 million solar jobs in Europe by 2030, and the EU Solar Skills Partnership will help deliver the workers on the ground.”

As mentioned above, promoting solar projects creates jobs for more people, which is a great opportunity for solar companies and pv module installers alike.At the same time, it also brings more challenges for the present solar companies as well as related practitioners.