Half of the European countries that provide grid data currently lack the capacity to handle the expected surge in rooftop solar installations, according to the authors of the newly released report. This infrastructure shortfall threatens to delay connections for approximately 1.5 million households across the continent, potentially stalling a critical component of Europe’s transition to clean energy.
“Half of reporting countries have insufficient grid capacity to accommodate the expected growth in small-scale solar,” the report states, noting that this “puts at least 16 GW of rooftop solar planned by 2030 at risk, potentially affecting up to 1.5 million households.”
In simple terms, the local power lines and equipment that deliver electricity to neighborhoods were not designed to manage the large amount of solar power that families now want to generate from their own roofs. Because these local networks are becoming crowded, many homeowners who want to install solar panels may be forced to wait years before they are allowed to plug them into the system and start using cheaper electricity. This bottleneck is particularly severe in countries like Slovenia and Denmark, where the existing infrastructure is struggling to keep up with the number of households switching to solar energy.
The report “Crossed wires: Grid capacity could block EU energy security” was published by the energy think tank Ember on 1 April 2026. It was prepared by a research team led by Senior Energy Analyst Elisabeth Cremona.
