The Balkan Solar Boom: How the Region Added 4.5 GW in One Year and What to Expect by 2030 Across the Ten Countries of the Balkan Peninsula

This study quantifies the photovoltaic (PV) development across the ten countries of the Balkan Peninsula, understood strictly geographically and without political or cultural connotations: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Slovenia. Data from national regulators, system operators and industry associations were harmonized to a common reference (end of 2025) and checked against IRENA and Ember datasets. Indicators include cumulative capacity, annual additions, per-capita capacity, solar share of generation, and auction prices. The total PV capacity across the Balkan Peninsula reached 23 GW by the end of 2025, including a record 4.5 GW of new additions in 2025. Greece leads with 11.5 GW and 1223 W per capita. Bulgaria approaches 6 GW after a third consecutive year with more than 1 GW of new additions. Slovenia follows with 1.6 GW, generating 12% of the annual electricity. North Macedonia and Croatia hold about 1.2 GW each, covering 14% and 6% of generation, respectively. Serbia with 318 MW remains below 50 W of PV capacity per capita: 25 times less than Greece. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Montenegro are emerging markets with solar shares below 5%. Solar PV deployment models differ: utility-scale plants supplied 90% of Bulgarian and 72% of Greek 2025 additions, while rooftop PV represents over 90% of Croatian, Slovenian and Montenegrin capacity. Rapid growth now pushes new regulation: 3.5 GW of utility PV await grid connection in Croatia while renewable energy curtailment reached 8% in Greece. By 2030, national plans and project pipelines point to over 45 GW in the Balkan region, which holds some of the highest solar irradiation levels in Europe. However, its future PV growth will depend less on module costs and solar resources than on alleviating administrative and permitting procedures, removing grid bottlenecks, and modernizing outdated market structures.