Solar Energy in Austria 2026: Costs, Permits and Grid

Austria’s solar market is still growing, but the federal grant that helped build it is about to change. This page covers installations, turnkey prices, permits by province and grid connection times, each with its source and date.

Last updated: November 2026.

This page covers the Austrian solar market, costs, permits and grid connection. For grant rates and provincial top-ups, see our page on solar incentives in Austria. GW means gigawatts. kWp means kilowatts of peak solar output.

Austria solar at a glance

Sources are listed in the sections below. ct/kWh means euro cents per kilowatt-hour. OeMAG is the company that settles green power payments in Austria.

How much solar does Austria add each year?

Two official sources give slightly different numbers, because they measure different things. E-Control counts grid capacity reported by grid operators. The ministry report counts the peak power of the modules.

Sources: E-Control, Jahresbericht Erhebung Netzanschluss 2026 (data for 2025) and the ministry report “Innovative Energietechnologien in Österreich, Marktentwicklung 2024”, hosted by PV&B Austria. The ministry lists the report on its market survey page. MWp means megawatts of peak power.

The ministry report says Austria had 9,398 MWp of PV in operation at the end of 2024, up 36.4% on 2023. PV made at least 8,143 GWh of power in 2024. The report says this covers more than 17% of national electricity demand.

E-Control says total grid-connected PV capacity grew by about 20% in 2025. It also counted 62,300 new PV metering points in 2025, for a total of 533,510. Its survey covers 60 grid operators, which serve 98% of metering points.

Is Austria on track for its 2030 target?

It depends on which target you use.

• EAG target. The Renewable Energy Expansion Act (EAG) aims to add 27 TWh of renewable power by 2030. Of that, 11 TWh should come from PV. E-Control turns this into an average of 1,100 MW of new PV a year. It says 2025 beat that by almost 0.5 GW, and that PV is 2.3 GW ahead of the target path.
• Grid plan target. PV&B Austria cites the Austrian grid infrastructure plan (ÖNIP), which needs 21 GWp of PV by 2030 and 41 GWp by 2040. PV&B Austria says only 45% of the 2030 capacity was installed. That is 9,398 MWp / 21,000 MWp = 45% (our check, using end-2024 data).

Source for the ÖNIP figures: PV&B Austria, PV and battery storage. TWh means terawatt-hours.

How much sun does Austria get?

PV&B Austria says the average yearly sunshine in Austria is about 1,000 kWh per square meter. It adds that east or west facing systems lose only about 10% of yield against south facing ones. Source: PV&B Austria, Daten und Fakten. On a tilted south facing plane, PVGIS shows more sun, from 1,419 to 1,687 kWh per square meter a year across the nine cities below.

For a closer look, we ran PVGIS, the free tool of the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre. The settings were 1 kWp of crystalline silicon, 35 degree tilt, facing south, 14% system losses and PVGIS-SARAH3 weather data for 2005 to 2023.

Source: PVGIS, run on 28 Oct 2026, rounded to the nearest 10. These are point estimates for one city each. A point a few hundred meters away can give a different result, most of all in hilly places such as Salzburg. Your roof, shade and hills will change the result, so use a shading analysis for each project.

What does a solar system cost?

The ministry’s 2024 market report surveyed installers. All prices are turnkey, grid connected, and exclude VAT.

Source: ministry market report 2024, section 7.1.5. The same report says installers paid on average €184.84 per kWp for modules in 2024, 20.3% less than in 2023.

These are 2024 averages. The report says VAT was 0% for PV up to 35 kWp on homes and some public and charity buildings from 1 January 2024. It says the exemption was decided for the years 2024 and 2025. We could not confirm what applies now. Ask for a current quote and ask if VAT is included.

What is the state of the federal grant?

The EAG investment grant is paid through calls that open for a short time. The EAG agency’s calendar (read 28 Oct 2026) shows the 3rd call of 2026 for PV and storage on 8 to 22 October 2026. It shows no other call from August 2026 to July 2027.

The Austrian economy ministry (BMWET) said on 6 October 2026 that the second call of 2026 ran out of money after 33 seconds. About 28,000 applications competed for money for about 3,000 projects. The ministry plans to replace the classic PV grant with a bonus for storage systems with smart energy management. It plans a continuous application model from 2027. The details are still under negotiation, and a change of law needs a two-thirds majority in parliament.

Sources: EAG agency, Förderkalender and ministry press release, 6 Oct 2026 (via APA-OTS). We do not list grant rates here. They are set in a yearly regulation that we could not read online. See our incentives page for rates and provincial grants.

What can you sell power for?

OeMAG pays a monthly market price for PV power. Its market-price balancing group is open to plants under 500 kW(p) that have a grid approval and the needed permits. OeMAG describes the February, March, August and September prices as the volume-weighted day-ahead hourly price minus the cost of balancing energy. It describes January as the market price under section 41(1) of the Green Electricity Act (ÖSG) minus that cost, and April to July as 60% of that market price minus that cost. These are the 2026 PV prices OeMAG had published on 28 October 2026.

Source: OeMAG, Marktpreis. The simple average of the nine months is 7.63 ct/kWh (68.646 / 9). It is not weighted by how much power a plant makes in each month. Fixed tariffs from older rules still exist for some plants, so check which applies to yours.

Is solar income tax-free?

PV&B Austria says income of private persons from feeding in up to 12,500 kWh a year from PV is exempt from income tax. The plant must be 35 kWp or less, with a grid connection of 25 kWp or less. It cites section 3(1) item 39 of the income tax act (EStG 1988). Source: PV&B Austria, legal framework. Check your own case with a tax adviser.

Do you need a permit for solar in Austria?

There is no single national permit. Building law, zoning law, electricity law and nature protection law all play a part. They are set by the nine provinces. Municipalities handle building and zoning cases. The provincial government handles electricity and nature protection cases.

PV&B Austria’s guide (14th edition, September 2026) gives the electricity-law limits below. The guide says it does not replace the laws themselves. Building, zoning and nature rules come on top.

Source: PV&B Austria, Leitfaden zur Anzeige- und Genehmigungspflicht (short version, Sept 2026). The full guide is for PV&B Austria members.

Some examples of the building-law rules in the same guide:

• Burgenland: no permit for PV up to 20 kWp on small buildings (classes 1 to 3) if it lies parallel to the roof or wall, or sits at most 15 degrees with at most 30 cm between the roof covering and the top of the system.
• Tyrol: no notice for building PV up to 100 square meters if integrated or at most 30 cm from the roof or wall. A notice is needed above 100 square meters.
• Salzburg: no permit for PV on existing buildings (outside protected areas) that is integrated or at most 30 cm from the roof, and does not go above the ridge. On a flat roof, modules must sit back at least 1 m and rise at most 1 m.

Ask your province and your municipality before you quote. The guide also tells installers to ask the grid operator first whether the grid has free capacity.

How long does grid connection take?

E-Control measured the time grid operators took in 2025. These are averages across the operators that answered.

For systems up to 20 kW, the operating permission came on average 9.2 days after the completion notice. The slowest answers for large systems took 120 days. E-Control also notes that about 87.7% of the 115,257 complete PV applications in 2025 were for systems up to 20 kW.

Source: E-Control, Jahresbericht Erhebung Netzanschluss 2026, sections 3 and 4. The operators supplied this data voluntarily.

What are energy communities?

An energy community is a group of at least two participants who make and share power. The Austrian information site for energy communities lists four citizen energy models: peer-to-peer contracts (P2P), shared generation plants (GEA), energy communities (EEG and BEG) and self-supply plants (EVA). The site says energy can be shared on one site or across plot boundaries.

New rules for shared energy use in the electricity act (ElWG) came into force on 1 October 2026. From 5 October 2026 they can be used only with metering points at the same grid operator. Use across several grid areas is expected from about April 2027. The reduced network fees are expected from 1 January 2027. Source: Koordinationsstelle für Energiegemeinschaften and its page on changes for existing communities.

For another country’s community rules, see community solar projects in Germany.

What about solar heat?

Solar heat means thermal collectors that heat water or buildings. The ministry’s 2024 market report says Austria had 4.4 million square meters of solar thermal collectors in operation at the end of 2024. That is 3.1 GWth of heat output in the report’s text (its table shows 3,048 MWth). In 2024 about 47,623 square meters were newly installed, which is 33.3 MWth. The report says this was the first market growth since 2009, at a small plus of 0.2%.

Source: ministry market report 2024, section 1.5.

What does this mean for a project?

• Check the grant status first. The old call system ends with the October 2026 call. A new model is planned for 2027.
• Quote with current prices. Use the 2024 averages only as a guide.
• Model the site. Yield differs between provinces, and shade changes it more.
• Ask the grid operator early. Waiting times grow with system size.

For the wider picture, see the EU solar subsidies tracker and our page on solar incentives in Slovenia.

Ready to turn these numbers into a proposal? Book a SurgePV demo and bring an Austrian roof.

For modeling, see solar design software and the generation and financial tool.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much new solar did Austria install in 2025?

E-Control, Austria’s energy regulator, reports about 1.6 GW of new PV connected in 2025, and an increase of about 20% in total installed grid capacity. That is about 0.5 GW above the 1.1 GW a year that the EAG target path needs. The figure comes from a survey of 60 grid operators that cover 98% of metering points.

How much does solar cost in Austria?

The 2024 market report for the ministry gives average turnkey prices of €1,551 per kWp for 5 kWp systems, €1,336 per kWp for 10 kWp systems and €806 per kWp for 30 to 50 kWp systems. All are excluding VAT. These are 2024 prices, so ask for current quotes.

Is there a federal grant for solar in Austria?

The EAG investment grant runs through calls. The third and last call of 2026 in the current system ran from 8 to 22 October 2026. The ministry says it plans to replace the PV investment grant from 2027 with a bonus for storage systems, and the details and the law are not final.

Is solar income tax-free in Austria?

PV&B Austria says income of private persons from feeding in up to 12,500 kWh a year from PV is exempt from income tax. The plant must be 35 kWp or less, with a grid connection of 25 kWp or less (section 3(1) item 39 of the income tax act). Check your own case with a tax adviser.

Do I need a permit for solar panels in Austria?

It depends on the province and the system. Building, zoning, electricity and nature protection laws can all apply. The electricity-law limits for a permit range from 15 kW in Vienna to 1,000 kW in several provinces. Always ask your grid operator first, and check the provincial rules.

How long does grid connection take in Austria?

E-Control reports that in 2025 grid operators took on average 6.3 days to confirm a complete application for a PV system of 20 kW or less. For systems above 250 kW up to 1 MW the average was 24.0 days, and the slowest answers for large systems took 120 days. After completion, the operating permission took 9.2 days on average for systems of 20 kW or less.

Is there solar heat as well as solar power in Austria?

Yes. A ministry report says 4.4 million square metres of solar thermal collectors were in operation at the end of 2024, which is 3.1 GWth. In 2024 about 47,623 square metres were newly installed.