Solar power slows, battery storage grows explosively

Growth in the solar PV market has slowed sharply since 2024 to an expected installed capacity of 2.08 gigawatt peak in 2025. In contrast, the market for battery storage systems is growing strongly and is expected to reach 89,200 new installations by 2025.

This is according to the National Storage & Solar Trend Report 2025 by Dutch New Energy Research (DNE). The research shows that consumers and companies are increasingly looking at integrated energy systems, in which solar and storage are inextricably linked. This is why this year, for the first time, the research firm is presenting a Trend Report that brings storage and solar together.

 Growth in all market segments

The battery installation market is seeing a 140 percent increase this year compared to 2024. The residential sector is the main driver of this growth with 87,600 new battery systems. Total installed storage capacity could reach 1.55 gigawatt-hours this year, of which 860 megawatt-hours will be residential, 330 megawatt-hours in the commercial and industrial sectors and 360 megawatt-hours at the utility scale. That represents 130 percent growth, with the strongest increase (260 percent) in the residential market.

 Solar power growth stagnates

At the same time, solar power growth is stagnating. After years of growth through 2023 and an already visible decline in 2024, the projected annual increase in installed solar panel capacity in the Netherlands may reach only 2.08 gigawatt peak in 2025; a level not seen since before 2020.

 'The success of recent years has provided a lot of renewable energy, but now the market clearly needs to start switching and incorporating solutions to use this solar energy properly. The numbers clearly show this,' states DNE chief researcher Hrvoje Medarac.

 36.8 gigawatt hours of storage by 2030

Taking into account current market trends, the expected growth of solar power and TenneT's plans, the Netherlands could have a total of about 36.8 gigawatt-hours of battery storage capacity by 2030. Of this, an estimated 14.6 gigawatt-hours will be realized in the residential market, 12.1 gigawatt-hours in the commercial and industrial sector and 10.1 gigawatt-hours on a utility scale.

For solar power, the scenarios outline divergent paths. In the lowest scenario, the market grows by only about 1.8 gigawatt-peak annually; in the high scenario, with strong incentive policies, this could reach 2.6 to 2.9 gigawatt-peak. The base scenario assumes about 2.3 gigawatt peak per year.