Sweden Installed 180 MW Solar In 2018

• In 2018, Sweden installed 180 MW of new solar PV capacity taking the cumulative to 411 MW
• Total number of installations were counted to be around 25,500, and 10,200 of these were installed in 2018 alone
• Most of the cumulative capacity came from system sizes of 20 kW to 1 MW
• The counties of Västra Götaland, Skåne, Stockholm and Östergötland make up half of the country's installed power capacity

Sweden's cumulative installed solar power capacity at the end of 2018 reached 411 MW, which is a 78% jump from the 231 MW reported a year back, according to Swedish Energy Agency Energimyndigheten. In 2018, the country installed 180 MW new PV, in 2017, it was  91 MW.

With 10,200 new grid-connected solar power plants installed during the year, the total number of installations add up to around 25,500, increasing 67% YoY.

At least 50% or 205 MW of the 411 MW comes from system sizes in the range of 20 kW to 1 MW, followed by 46% or 189 MW from systems smaller or equal 20 kW systems, and only 4% or 17 MW from those with over 1 MW capacity.

"We see that plants with an installed power above 1,000 kW grew a lot during 2018 both in number and installed power. The largest plants have more than doubled compared to 2017 – from just under 8 MW to over 17 MW," said the agency's statistician, Jeffrey Berard.

A major concentration of solar power systems can be seen in Västra Götaland County, Skåne County or Stockholm County that claim 43% of the total installed capacity. These counties along with Östergötland account for half of the country's installed solar power.

According to a Eurostat report published in February 2019, 11 member nations of the European Union have already achieved their 2020 renewable energy targets of a 20% share in gross final consumption. Sweden was found to have the highest share of renewables in its gross final consumption of energy at 54.5% in 2017 (see 2020 RE Target Achieved By 11 EU Nations). The country's official national target for its renewable energy share is 49% by 2020, according to the European Commission.