Today, a large majority in the European Parliament voted to approve (526 votes in favour, 77 against and 94 abstentions) ITRE’s Own Initative Report titled ‘Maximising the energy efficiency potential of the EU building stock’ that supports a massive roll-out of solar power as part of the EU’s Renovation Wave initiative, including the launch of a European Solar Rooftop Programme.

This European Solar Rooftop Programme would aim to meet the rooftop potential of the EU, which could produce approximately 680 TWh per annum according to the JRC and promote the deployment of building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) and distributed storage.

Miguel Herrero Cangas, Policy Advisor and Coordinator of the Solar Buildings Workstream at SolarPower Europe, said: “Today the European Parliament gave a strong endorsement to accelerate the deployment of rooftop solar and BIPV in the EU. Currently, more than 90% of buildings in the EU go unused when they could help mitigate CO2 emissions by having solar installed on them. The EU building stock accounts for 36% of the region’s emissions, and installing solar on available rooftop space could save up to 7 million tonnes of CO2 each year. In addition, rooftop solar is incredibly labour-intensive and will bring highly-skilled, local jobs and growth in line with a Green Recovery and the European Green Deal.”

The European Commission is due to present the Renovation Wave initiative on the 14^th of October.