Photovoltaic operators are increasingly consuming solar power themselves

In 2020, photovoltaic system owners consumed 3.55 terawatt-hours (TWh) themselves; by 2022, this had already risen to 5.57 TWh. Self-consumption then continued to rise sharply: in 2023, it was already 8.20 TWh, and in 2024, this value reached 12.28 TWh. These are figures compiled by the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE). Since nearly 60 TWh were fed into the grid last year, total solar power generation amounts to over 72 TWh, and self-consumption has reached a share of 17 percent. In 2023, this share was still 13 percent.

The ISE analyzed data from the Marktstammdatenregister (market master data register) and the transmission system operators. The researchers recorded performance classes and system types, as well as commissioning data. Based on their respective feed-in behavior and installed battery storage, they then categorized 44 different self-consumption groups.

The researchers determined, for example, that for private operators in the 2010s, it became increasingly advantageous to build smaller systems that allowed them to achieve a high self-consumption rate, given the falling feed-in tariff. At the same time, the proportion of photovoltaic systems with battery storage increased rapidly. While only about half of the systems were coupled with their own storage in 2020 (51 percent), by the current year 2025, it is already six out of seven (86 percent).

For the future, the scientists predict a further increase in self-consumption, driven by high electricity prices and increasingly affordable battery storage systems. Furthermore, with the installation of heat pumps and the purchase of e-cars, electricity demand is growing, which can be more affordably met by one's own photovoltaic system. However, the researchers also see advantages for the power grid as a whole if more and more electricity is produced decentrally and consumed on-site, without having been fed into the grid.

(agr)