Sweden installed 460 MW of solar PV in the first half of 2024, following a record year of deployment in 2023. However, market growth has been slow due to lower electricity prices and uncertainty around green tax breaks for batteries, according to Svensk Solenergi.

Sweden installed 460 MW of solar power in the first half of the year, according to statistics from Svensk Solenergi, Sweden’s leading PV industry association.

The results point to a slowdown in Sweden’s solar market, after a record 1.6 GW of PV capacity was installed in 2023. Svensk Solenergi reports that 27,500 solar installations were connected in Sweden through July 2024, slightly more than the 26,600 projects during the same period in 2022, but significantly less than the 66,000 connected last year.

The association said it expected the sharp decline in installations. At the beginning of 2023, the solar market benefited from record electricity prices and global uncertainty, the group explained. Instead, 2024 started with low electricity prices and an uncertain legal situation regarding green tax deductions for batteries.

“The slowdown in the first half of 2024 may seem dramatic when compared to 2023. But if we look back a couple of years, we see that the number of installations is slightly higher than in 2022 and twice as high as in 2021, despite the ambiguities around the green deduction that characterised the first half of 2024,” said Svensk Solenergi CEO Anna Werner.

Residential-scale installations of less than 20 kW accounted for 260 MW of additional grid-connected capacity through July. Werner noted that in June, the Swedish Tax Agency reinstated the green tax deduction for batteries in solar cell systems.

“We will now see how the residential market recovers over the rest of the year, when homeowners do not have to drive with the handbrake on by mistake,” Werner said.

Meanwhile, mid-sized projects between 20kW and 1,000kW have accounted for 190MW of newly connected power this year. This is a 75% increase from the same period to July 2022.

“Commercial players continue to increase their investments, proving that solar remains a good long-term investment,” Werner said.

Earlier this month, Swedish solar developers Alight and Svea Solar announced a partnership with state-owned company Sveaskog, the country’s largest landowner, to develop 2GW of new solar on the Sveaskog land.

In May, Brion Solenergi began building a 14MW solar array on the rooftop of Sweden’s largest warehouse. It has been announced as the largest rooftop solar project in the Nordic region.