In March 2026, driven by geopolitical conflicts and sharp volatility in natural gas prices, wholesale electricity prices in several European countries surged to yearly peaks. Italy's average daily electricity price reached €168.54 per MWh, a near one-year high. The divergence in price increases largely depends on the degree of natural gas dependence: Italy, with a dependency rate as high as 89%, saw the largest price hikes, while Spain, thanks to its expansion of renewables, has only 15% gas dependency and experienced much smaller price fluctuations. High electricity prices have heightened energy security concerns among households and businesses, fueling a surge in demand for solar-plus-storage systems.
As a key supporting component for solar-plus-storage systems, PV mounting systems are also seeing a demand uptick. The global solar PV mounting systems market is expected to reach approximately $16.17 billion in 2026 and is projected to grow to $24.13 billion by 2035, with a compound annual growth rate of around 4.5%. The booming demand for solar-plus-storage in Europe directly drives mounting system demand. Currently, more than 40 local manufacturers in Europe have a combined supporting capacity of around 100 GW.
In the Netherlands, limited land availability has spurred rapid development of innovative applications such as rooftop mounting systems, agrivoltaics, and floating PV mounting systems. In the Nordic region, demand for east-west vertical mounting systems is growing to capture sunlight during morning and evening hours. The share of agrivoltaic and solar carport mounting systems has risen from 12% last year to 22%, making it the fastest-growing segment.
On the policy front, the EU's Net-Zero Industry Act requires that by 2030, 40% of mounting systems be manufactured locally. Spain and France also provide subsidy preferences for locally produced mounting systems. If the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) is extended to cover mounting system products, it could increase the landed cost of Chinese-made mounting systems by approximately 8–12%, prompting some manufacturers to shift toward localized production in Europe.
