Austria

The main reasons for the slowdown in PV installation are political changes, particularly the new government’s premature decision to end the VAT exemption for small PV systems leading to declining residential installations.

Despite the weaker development, large plant constructors remain active. At the end of the year, a total of around 11 GW (DC) was installed in Austria, which now contributes around 13% to the national electricity supply.

Nevertheless, PV is increasingly becoming a central component of the energy transition in Austria but faces challenges in terms of stable political framework conditions and targets. Overall, the share of renewable electricity production in Austria is quite high, with about 85% in 2025 due to historically strong hydropower and through the expansion of wind power over the last 20 years. Nevertheless this year showed a significant decline compared to 2024, primarily due to lower hydro and lower wind availability during the year.

In addition to nationwide subsidies, photovoltaic systems are also supported with subsidies in most of the federal states, though always with a slightly different funding priority.

In energy legislation, the discussion about a new Electricity Act dominated: the Act was finally passed shortly before the end of the year and contains the following key points for photovoltaics:

– New PV systems above a certain capacity (e.g. above 3.68 kWp) must be technically designed in such a way that grid operators can remotely control them to a certain extent.

– Flexible grid access: The new law creates a legal framework for flexible grid connection. This means that PV systems can be connected even before the full grid capacity is available.

– Joint information platforms are required for grid operators to publish grid capacities, grid conditions and grid development plans.

– The new energy act creates the basis that PV electricity is traded or shared directly between producers and consumers via the public grid (energy communities, peer2peer, etc.)

– Electricity suppliers are required to offer contracts with dynamic energy prices and flexible grid tariffs are permitted.

– Joint operation of an Austrian national flexibility platform between electricity grid operators.

A widely discussed new grid-injection fee for electricity generation was finally reduced to system sizes beyond typical residential PV-systems.

PV systems are an integral part of many subsidized projects [Austrian Energy research]; Public spending on research, development, and demonstration projects in the energy sector amounted to a record of 401 million EUR in 2024 of which about 9.4 million EUR went to photovoltaic research. The topics of energy efficiency, transmission, storage, as well as hydrogen and fuel cells, were clearly in the foreground of the research, development, and demo projects. Due to budgetary consolidation measures, public funding for lighthouse projects in photovoltaic and storage systems has declined significantly in 2025.

The Austrian PV-Technology platform which was initially supported by the same ministry, acts as a legal body since 2012. It brings together about 35 Austrian-based industries and commercial entities that are active in the production of PV-relevant components and sub-components, as well as the relevant research community, in order to create more innovation in the Austrian PV sector. The transfer of the latest scientific results to the industry through innovation workshops, trainee programs, and conferences, joint national and international research projects, and other similar activities are part of the work program, in addition to the needed awareness raising, as well as aiming at further improving the framework conditions for manufacturing, research and innovation in Austria for the relevant decision-makers.

In the European research environment, Austria is coordinating the Clean Energy Transition Partnership (CETP), a co-funded Partnership in Horizon Europe.

Most Austrian producers in the photovoltaic sector are struggling to compete internationally. Research and innovation will increasingly play an important role.

The European Net Zero Industry Act is seen as a great opportunity that must be utilized nationally to strengthen the Austrian renewables sector together with European partners and ensure sovereignty in the energy supply.

Aspects of sustainability, recycling and the re-use of photovoltaic modules are becoming increasingly important and are the subject of intensive research. National and European projects are dealing with recycling or extending the lifespan of PV Modules.

Special attention is paid to photovoltaic applications that generate particular added value, such as in agriculture, the transport sector or the building industry. For most of the Austrian photovoltaic research priorities, close links to the tasks of the IEA PVPS are of great value.

Discussions about grid compatibility were almost equally important, which can be attributed on the one hand to a lack of knowledge about real-time processes in the electricity distribution grids and on the other hand to the lack of incentives not to feed PV-electricity peaks into the grid.

Storage and the use of local flexibilities, vertical PV as well as dynamic grid access options are therefore at the beginning of widespread introduction and should gain momentum thanks to the new energy law. Further national laws and regulations in the electricity sector with an impact on the PV sector were discussed in 2025 but not finally endorsed.

At the Sölden Tiefenbach glacier skiing resort a remarkable alpine PV system with a target capacity of approximately 6 MW has been in the construction phase since the beginning of 2025. A special cross structure was designed to ensure that wind turbulence keeps the modules permanently free of snow, even at high alpine altitudes.

Larger open-space PV systems in MW and Multi-MW range are almost exclusively implemented in combination with agriculture due to better conditions for subsidies. The most common type is sheep breeding, but enormous benefits for agricultural production have been achieved, particularly in fruit cultivation (apples, peaches, berries…), when these areas are partially covered with photovoltaic elements. Most of these pilot plants are scientifically monitored and prepared for long-term studies.

The development of car park PV-roofing has gained enormous momentum in 2025, with various large-scale projects with a total of over 20 MW being implemented nationwide, not only making double use of already utilised space, but also increasing convenience for motorists, mostly in conjunction with electric charging stations.

Building integration still needs to be expanded, with funding applications for building-integrated PV with around 15 MW submitted in 2025. Efforts to integrate PV as standard into Building Information Modelling (BIM) are being made as part of a major research project.

The Federal Association Photovoltaic Austria serves as the non-governmental interest group of the solar energy and storage industries in Austria. This association promotes solar PV at the national and international level and acts as an informant and intermediary between business sectors and the political and public sectors. Its focus lies in improving the general conditions for photovoltaic and storage systems in Austria and on securing suitable framework conditions for stable growth and investment security. Benefiting from its strong public relations experience, PV-Austria builds networks, disseminates key information about the PV industry to the broader public, and organizes conferences, workshops, and industry meetings.