Germany’s Federal Network Agency estimates the country’s April 2026 new solar PV installations at 1.16 GW
About 152 MW of this capacity is assumed to come from revised registrations
The agency has also released the results for the March 1, 2026, tender for ground-mounted solar
Germany’s solar PV installed capacity in the initial 4 months of 2026 neared 5 GW with the addition of an estimated 1.16 GW in the month of April, according to the country’s Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur).
For April 2026, the figures for solar energy include systems officially registered by May 13, 2026 – 71,766 units with a combined capacity of 1,016.2 MW – as well as estimated additional registrations that are expected to be submitted within the allowed 1-month reporting period. The agency adds about 7,200 more units and 152 MW of capacity to the monthly capacity estimate, based on assumptions that registrations will increase by 10% in terms of the number of units and 15% in total capacity.
For the month of March, the agency had estimated the capacity at 1.41 GW, which it has now updated to 1.48 GW (see German Solar Installations In March 2026 Exceed 1.4 GW).
The largest chunk of April additions this year came from the ground-mounted solar segment, which declined from 909.3 MW in the previous month to 526.7 MW. At 428 MW, registrations for rooftop solar systems also declined from 531.6 MW in March 2026.
There was a slight uptick in plug-in (balcony) solar, with installed capacity of 61.5 MW (March 2026: 54.9 MW) – the highest so far for any month this year.
According to the German Association of Plug-in Solar (Bundesverband Steckersolar, or BVSS), the country has over 1.3 million plug-in solar systems registered, but the actual number could be much higher (see BVSS: Germany Exceeds 1.3 Million Plug-In (Balcony) Solar PV Systems).
In an exclusive interview with TaiyangNews, BVSS CEO Craig Morris identified the barriers to smoother adoption of plug-in solar in the country while reflecting on its global growth (see Craig Morris: Plug-In (Balcony) Solar Could Reach Mainstream By 2030).
Overall, the agency says that with the addition of 4.75 GW within 4M 2026, Germany’s cumulative installed solar PV capacity increased to 122.44 GW.
The agency recently awarded 2.299 GW of ground-mounted solar capacity under the auction held on March 1, 2026. It selected 268 winning entries out of 532 bids submitted for 4.62 GW, as against 2.295 GW tendered.
Most of the capacity, or 1.026 GW, was awarded to projects on land alongside highways or railways, followed by 760 MW for systems on arable or grassland in disadvantaged areas. Special solar installations, under which the agency encourages dual-use of space, such as agrivoltaics, accounted for almost 15% of the submitted bids and 1/5th of the total awarded volume, at 439 MW.
Winning bids for this auction ranged from €0.0399/kWh to €0.0510/kWh with an average winning bid of €0.0494/kWh, slightly lower than the previous round’s €0.050/kWh (see Germany Receives Over 5 GW Bids For 2.3 GW Solar Tender).
The next tender round for ground-mounted solar projects is scheduled for July 1, 2026.