Photovoltaic Solar Electricity Potential in European Countries

30W

20W

10W

10E

20E

30E

40E

50E

60E

60N

Optimum inclination of PV modules to maximize yearly energy yield

Optimum
angle []
50
48
46
44
42
40
38
36
34
32
30
28
26
24
22
20
5

Akureyi

Reykjavk
Selfoss
Sverdlovsk

60N

Oulu

Perm'

Ume

Kuopio

Joensuu

Izevsk

Vaasa

Trondheim

Jyvskyl

Lappeenranta

Tampere

Pori

Ufa

Lahti

Hameenlinna

Kazan'
Sankt Peterburg|Saint Petersburg

Helsinki

Turku

Yaroslavl
Gor'kiy|Nizhniy Novgorod|Novgorod

Bergen

Kohtla-Jrve
Oslo

Tallinn

Uppsala

Stockholm

Drammen

Ul'yanovsk

Narva

PV output: difference between fixed optimum angle and one-axis

tracking system

Kuybyskev

Fredrikstad

Tartu

Stavanger

Moscow

Kristiansand

Daugavpils

Vilnius

Dublin

Leeds

Liverpool
Manchester

Bristol

Hamburg

Leicester

Bremen

Den Haag
Rotterdam

London

Berlin

Hannover

Leipzig

Praha

Frankfurt
am Main

Wiesbaden

Mannheim

Ostrava

Pardubice

Olomouc

Brno

Linz
Mnchen

Nantes

Salzburg

Wien

Bern

Zrich

Graz

Innsbruck
Bolzano
Kranj

Genve
Ispra

Celje

Verona

Venezia

Oviedo

Toulouse

Bilbao

Montpellier

Pamplona

Braga
40N

Zaragoza

Salamanca

Coimbra

Firenze

Toulon

Lleida

Belgrade

Varna

Ni

Samsun

Burgas

Sofia

Stara Zagora

Pazardzhik

Plovdiv
Istanbul

Kumanovo
Skopje

Bari

Kayseri

Bursa

Thessalonki
Aintab
Konya

Larisa

Mersin

Izmir

Kerkira

Mlaga

Patra

Almera

Reggio di
Calabria

Athnai

Limassol

Tunis
Constantine

0
2

Valletta

Global irradiation [kWh/m ]

800

10E

1200

1400

1600

1800

2000

100

200

600

Solar electricity [kWh/kWpeak]

20E

750

900

1050

1200

1350

1500

>2200
>1650

Yearly sum of solar electricity generated by optimally-inclined

1kWpsystem with a performance ratio of 0.75

300

400

500
km

Irbid
Az Zarqa'

Tel Aviv-Jaffa

Amman

Jerusalem

30E

European Union, 2012

PVGIS http://re.jrc.ec.europa.eu/pvgis/
Urban area

<450

Dimashq

Water body

Joint
Research
Centre

The PVGIS database has been developed from solar radiation data estimated from satellite using the
CMSAF models (www.cmsaf.eu), representing the period 1996-2011. In areas north of 58 N the data
are derived from ground stations measurements collected within the European Solar Radiation Atlas
and interpolated spatially. For more details, see: http://re.jrc.ec.europa.eu/pvigs/cmaps/mapinfo.htm
Grid resolution (enhanced by terrain) : 1km x 1km
Map projection : Lambert Azimutal Equal Area, WGS84, lat 52 lon 10

Ancillary data sources:

0

Yearly sum of global irradiation incident on optimally-inclined

south-oriented photovoltaic modules

1000

Bayrut

Hefa

Meknes Fes|Fs

10W

Famagusta

Larnaka

Irkleion

Rabat

<600

Nicosia

Rodos

Catania
El Djazar

Dar-el-Beida

Data description:

Antalya

Alacant
Murcia

Palermo
Cdiz

Seyhan

Volos

Cagliari

Sevilla

Diyarbakir

Vlor

Ioannina
Palma de Mallorca

Ankara

Komotini

Prilep

Castell de la Plana

Valencia

Trabzon

Ruse

Pleven

aak

Tiran
Bitola
Durrs
Elbasan
Napoli

Setbal

Craiova

Kragujevac

Podgorica

Constana

Bucureti

Novi Sad

Cetinje
Herceg-Novi Shkodra Tetovo
Bar

Roma

Ajaccio

Ploieti

Mostar

Niki

Perugia

Toledo

Lisboa
Sintra

Split

Barcelona

Madrid

Santarm

San Marino

Bat'umi

Vidin

Zenica
Sarajevo

Marseille

Andorra
la Vella

Valladolid

Slavonski Brod

Bologna

Nice

This graph represents the variation in yearly global irradiation incident on optimally-inclined photovoltaic modules
placed in urban areas of the EU-27 and 6 candidate countries. The red line connects the 33 country averages, the
dashed lines show the range between the minimum and the maximum per country. 90% of the urban areas of each
country will have values that fall in the range of the blue boxes.

Galai

Braov

Timioara

Banja Luka
Genova

Comparison of global irradiation in urban areas per country

T'Bilisi

Sokhumi

Zrenjanin

Osijek

Zagreb

Rijeka

Torino
Santiago de Compostela

Odesa

Cluj-Napoca

Szeged
Subotica

Pcs

Ljubljana

Lyon
Milano

Oradea

Tiraspol

Kecskemt

Maribor

Lausanne

Grenoble

Bender

Debrecen

Szkesfehrvr

Vaduz

Luzern

Krasnodar

Iasi Chiinu

Nyregyhza

Budapest

Gyr

Rbnia

Bli

Miskolc

Bratislava

Basel

Bordeaux

Bansk Bystrica
Nitra

Strasbourg

Preov
Koice

ilina

Zln

Nrnberg

Stuttgart

Nancy

Rostov-on-Don|Rostov-na-Donu

Zaporozhye

Krakw

Plze

Saarbrcken

Poitiers

Donets'k
Dnipropetrovs'k

Liberec

Luxembourg
Paris

Kyiv

Wrocaw

Dresden

Lige

Metz

Kharkiv

Brest

Essen

Eindhoven

Diekirch

Rennes

Pozna

Charleroi

Le Havre

Volgograd

Antwerpen Dsseldorf
Gent
Kln
Bruxelles/Brussel
Bonn
Lille

Warszawa

Utrecht Arnhem

's-Hertogenbosch

<20

Szczecin

Brighton
and Hove

Covilh

30

Homyel'

Sheffield

Amsterdam

Cardiff

Porto

Voronezh

Hrodna

Gdask
Koszalin

Nottingham

Waterford

Len

Minsk

Mahilyow
Babruysk

Birmingham

Vigo

40

Kaunas

Odense

40N

50N

Kbenhavn
Malm

Newcastle
upon Tyne

Gain in
output [%]
>50

Klaipda

rhus

Limerick

Cork

Saratov

Vitsyebsk

iauliai

Londonderry

Galway

Jelgava

Liepja

Glasgow
Edinburgh

50N

Jrmala
Aalborg

Belfast

Rga

Gteborg

Aberdeen

Legal notice: Neither the European Commission nor any person

acting on behalf of the Commission is responsible for the use
which might be made of this publication.
The boundaries and names shown on this map do not imply official
endorsement or acceptance by the European Commission.

Corine Land Cover 2000 (CLC2000) European Environment Agency, www.eea.europa.eu

Global Land Cover 2000 database, European Commision JRC, www.gvm.jrc.it/glc2000
Digital Terrain Model SRTM-30, NASA, www2.jpl.nasa.gov/srtm/
GISCO database, European Commission Eurostat, http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/
GeoNames, www.geonames.org
Natural Earth, www.naturalearthdata.com

Authors:

In collaboration with:

Thomas Huld, Irene Pinedo-Pascua

European Commission Joint Research Centre
Institute for Energy and Transport, Renewable Energy Unit
TP 450 I-21027 Ispra (VA) Italy
www.cmsaf.eu