France Installs Close To 1.4 GW Solar In H1/2023

• SDES says France installed 1.37 GW new solar in H1/2023, taking the cumulative to over 18 GW  
• It includes 774 MW added in Q2, driven by smaller installations of less than 9 kW capacity  
• 41.6% of new installations in H1 were contributed by systems that are entirely or partially self-consumed 

France exited H1/2023 with the addition of 1.378 GW of new solar PV capacity, including 774 MW in Q2, according to the Données et Etudes Statistiques or Data and Statistical Studies Department (SDES). These installations took the country's cumulative installed solar PV capacity to 18.03 GW.   

New installations in H1/2023 represented growth of around 12% over 1.23 GW SDES reported for H1/2022.  

Even quarterly additions are growing faster than the previous year with Q2 reflecting over 19% YoY increase. Q1 installations of 604 MW also grew by a little over 3% versus the previous year (see French Cumulative Installed PV Capacity Exceeds 17 GW).   

Of the H1/2023 installed capacity, smaller installations of less than 9 kW capacity represented 94% of new systems coming online, but only 24% of the new power. Systems with over 250 kW capacity represent only 0.2% of new connections but 39% of newly connected units.  

Maximum capacity was reported in the regions of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Occitanie, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Grand Est regions during H1 this year.  

Solar power production in the total national electricity consumption now represents 4.7%, having gone up 0.9 points over the course of 1 year.  

The share of solar power systems for self-consumption is also on the rise as SDES analysts claim, "In the first half of 2023, 41.6% of photovoltaic installations (8.5% of installed power) produce electricity which is entirely or partially self-consumed.  The share of these installations is up 1.2 points compared to the previous quarter.  In the second quarter of 2023, 297 GWh of photovoltaic electricity was self-consumed by producers, or 3.9% of the quarter's photovoltaic production.  Total self-consumption installations produced 112 GWh, or 38% of the total self-consumption." 

At the end of June 2023, France grew its solar PV project pipeline by 19% since January 2023 to 20.1 GW of PV, including 4.9 GW with grid connection agreement.  

If France can install another 2 GW in H2/2023, it can easily achieve the target of 20.1 GW cumulative PV capacity by the end of 2023 under its multi-year energy program (PPE). By 2028-end, the government expects to grow the technology to 35.1 GW under low scenario and to 44 GW under high scenario.