The EU saw a record share of power from solar in June 2026, making it the EU’s largest single source of power for only the third month ever.
For the first month ever, solar power provided a quarter of EU electricity this June. Solar generated a record 52 TWh of EU electricity in June 2026, making up 25% of monthly generation for the bloc. This beat solar’s previous monthly high of 47 TWh (23%) in May 2026.
Solar was the EU’s largest single source of power for the month, ahead of nuclear (21%), gas (15%), wind (14%) and hydro (12%), as coal generated just 8%. This is only the third month that solar has been the EU’s largest source of power, after June 2025 and May 2026.
Record solar output across Europe coincided with relatively high summer power demand, driven partially by demand for cooling due to record-breaking heatwaves. Solar helped sustain power supplies as other power sources struggled in hot and still conditions.
As installations keep up a high pace, solar booms
This milestone follows a period of extremely rapid growth over the past five years. In June of 2021, solar generated just 10% of power (21 TWh).
Solar has grown by more than a fifth every year in the EU between 2021 and 2025 – the fastest growth of any power source. This is predominantly due to a high pace of installations, with 65.1 GW of new capacity installed in 2025.
Read more: Ember Energy
