The Chairman of the Board of the Solar Energy Association of Ukraine, Vladyslav Sokolovskyi, in a comment for the online media outlet Delo.ua, spoke about key trends in the development of solar generation and the role of solar power plants in the country’s energy security.
According to SEAU estimates, around 1.5 GW of solar power plants were built in Ukraine in 2025, compared to approximately 800 MW in 2024. Thus, the pace of commissioning new solar capacity almost doubled.
“We estimate that 1.5 gigawatts of solar power plants were built within a year. During peak summer periods, these capacities, over approximately 7–10 hours of generation, can cover a significant share of the daytime electricity consumption of a large regional center or several medium-sized cities simultaneously, depending on load and weather conditions,” noted Vladyslav Sokolovskyi.
According to the expert, this includes both utility-scale solar power plants installed to offset business consumption and residential solar systems. At the same time, it is expected that in 2026 the pace of solar generation deployment will remain at least at the level of 2025.
“The latest massive attacks on energy infrastructure are forcing businesses and households to seriously consider their own energy security. In many cases, solar energy is becoming a practical solution,” emphasized the Chairman of the SEAU Board.
Additional confirmation of this trend is the growth in imports of solar PV modules. According to major importers, in January–September 2025 Ukraine increased imports of PV modules by 2.3 times, exceeding 2 GW.
SEAU also notes that the market is gradually shifting from situational “panic-driven” decisions to more balanced and well-calculated investments. Electricity tariff increases of almost threefold in 2022–2025 have shortened the payback period for solar power plants:
- for private households – to 4–5 years;
- for businesses – to 2–3 years.
At the same time, the rapid growth of decentralized generation creates new challenges for the power system. A significant share of new solar power plants is built for self-consumption and is not integrated into the overall grid, complicating forecasting of system balance and development. Therefore, according to SEAU assessments, digitalization, smart metering, and energy management systems are becoming increasingly important, as they will enable effective integration of solar generation and energy storage systems.
Read the full publication on Delo.ua