Hungary solar capacity: why published figures range from 7.55 to 10.2 GW

Published Hungary solar capacity figures differ because sources count different plants, in different units, on different dates. MAVIR, the transmission system operator, reported 8,871.2 MW across all plants on 31 August 2026, against a restated 7,258.8 MW for the end of 2024. SolarPower Europe's 10.2 GW for August 2025 is a DC figure.

Which Hungary solar capacity figures are published, and what does each count?

The figures below, from eight sources, run from 7,551.2 MW to 10.2 GW. HMKE means household-sized small power plants (háztartási méretű kiserőmű), SCTE means own-use plants (saját célra termelő), and ENTSO-E is the European network of transmission system operators.

MAVIR is the only source that splits the fleet by plant type. The lead figures of 2.68 GW household and 4.09 GW industrial are its split for 1 January 2025; they add up to 6.77 GW, not 7.55 GW, because 781.4 MW of own-use plants form a third group.

Why do the published figures differ?

Four definitions explain most gaps: the unit, the plant type, the grid connection and the date of the snapshot.

Is the figure in AC or DC?

AC is the inverter output that reaches the grid, and DC is the sum of the module ratings in MWp (megawatts peak). Hungarian law defines the rated capacity of an inverter-based plant as the sum of its inverters' AC-side rated active power (Act LXXXVI of 2007, section 3). SolarPower Europe says Hungary's official statistics are in AC and converts them to DC with ratios of 1.2 for residential, 1.25 for commercial and 1.3 for utility-scale systems.

MAVIR's PV statistics files do not label their unit. Its HMKE series does: installed capacity is marked "(AC)" and reads 3,023 MW on 27 September 2026, against 3,023.4 MW for HMKE in the 31 August 2026 statistics. MAVIR's list of transmission-connected plants shows "Szolnok PV 1-2" at 2 x 48 = 96 MW, while meteocontrol lists Lumen Park Szolnok, a SolServices plant, as two 69 MWp units (138 MWp) on a 132 kV MAVIR connection. A ratio of about 1.4 fits MAVIR listing AC.

Ember's methodology note describes MAVIR's data as published in DC, which these facts do not support. This guide therefore reads MAVIR's figures as most likely AC, until MAVIR confirms.

Are household, industrial and own-use plants counted?

MAVIR reports three lines. HMKE plants connect to the low-voltage network with a connection capacity of at most 50 kVA (kilovolt-amperes, a unit of apparent power; Act LXXXVI of 2007), which MAVIR labels 50 kW. Industrial plants are those above 50 kW, licensed or not. SCTE plants generate for their owner's own use. MAVIR takes the HMKE line from MEKH, the energy regulator, and the distribution system operators (DSOs), the SCTE line from the DSOs, and measures the industrial line itself.

The word "small" misleads: Hungarian law calls any plant under 50 MW a small power plant (kiserőmű), so only HMKE identifies household systems.

Is the output grid-connected or behind the meter?

A total includes plants whose output rarely reaches the public grid. MEKH's slides show that in 2025 about 68% of HMKE output and 5% of SCTE output was fed into the public grid, and SolarPower Europe says commercial systems are mostly behind the meter.

MAVIR's file also lists a combined PV peak of 7,117 MW in August 2026 against 8,871 MW of capacity. Capacity is a ceiling, not what the grid sees.

Which date does the figure describe?

MAVIR marks its HMKE and SCTE values as preliminary and updates them from DSO reports, so a total for a past date can change. The total for 31 December 2024 is 7,486.5 MW in the January 2025 file and 7,258.8 MW in the September 2026 file, because the SCTE line fell from 781.4 MW to 537.1 MW. Totals from different files are therefore not directly comparable.

Snapshot dates also split the "2025" row. MAVIR's PV statistics give 8,352.1 MW, its gross capacity table 8,493.3 MW (net: 8,346.1 MW). The gap sits entirely in the industrial line, 4,746.1 MW against 4,887.3 MW gross. The first number equals MAVIR's 1 December 2025 value, which suggests a December snapshot, but MAVIR does not say.

Why does the Energy-Charts figure jump from 4.03 GW to 8.28 GW?

Two explanations fit the data, and no source documents either. Energy-Charts shows "Solar AC" for Hungary as at 31 December of each year, with ENTSO-E as the source. ENTSO-E defines its yearly figure as the capacity effectively installed on 1 January of the following year.

Until the 2023 value, the series equals MAVIR's industrial line (household and own-use plants excluded) for the end of the following year. In 2024 it rises by 4.25 GW, against MAVIR's growth of 1,219.8 MW across all plants, and its 8.28 GW is within 0.01 GW of MAVIR's all-plants total of 8,287.2 MW on 1 December 2025.

The first explanation is a change of scope, from industrial plants only to all plants, which fits the size of the jump. The second is a labelling or back-fill shift, in which each value carries data about a year later than its label; that would also explain the one-year offset in 2022 and 2023. Growth rates from this series are unreliable until the operator or ENTSO-E explains the change.

Has Hungary's solar capacity passed 9 GW?

Not in MAVIR's data, where the total was 8,871.2 MW on 31 August 2026. The "more than 9 GW" in the government's statement of 7 October 2025 refers to green generation capacity as a whole, and IRENA lists 9,201 MW for all renewables in Hungary at the end of 2025.

Measured in DC, Hungary was already above 10 GW in August 2025. SolarPower Europe's 10.2 GW is 1.26 times the 8,105 MW that MAVIR recorded for July 2025, inside the 1.2 to 1.3 conversion range.

Did Hungary add 1.1 GW of solar in 2025?

About 1.1 GW is the most common count, but the range is 1,030 MW to 1,234.5 MW, because snapshot dates and restated totals differ by source. The 1.1 GW headline is the figure of MANAP, reported by pv magazine on 21 January 2026.

Which Hungary solar capacity number should you use?

Use the figure whose unit, plant types and date match the question.

What is the 2030 target, and which figure measures progress?

The 2030 target is 12,000 MW. It comes from the renewable capacity table of Hungary's final updated NECP, submitted on 15 October 2024 according to the Commission's assessment. It projects 7,897 MW for 2025 and 8,718 MW for 2026, with no unit.

Its 2021 and 2022 actuals, labelled Eurostat, are 2,968 MW and 4,235 MW, the same as in IRENA's 2025 yearbook, while MAVIR's totals for those years are 3,180.0 MW and 4,346.4 MW. IRENA's 8,177 MW for 2025 is therefore the like-for-like figure; MAVIR's 2025 totals sit 175 to 316 MW higher. IRENA revises its series: its end-2024 figure moved from 7,699 MW in the 2025 edition to 7,166 MW in the 2026 edition.

Does public generation data cover all Hungarian solar output?

No. On the one day checked (27 September 2026), Energy-Charts' Hungarian solar series, which comes from ENTSO-E, summed to 22.3 GWh, equal to MAVIR's industrial PV series. MAVIR's own estimates for the same day were 11.2 GWh for HMKE and 2.7 GWh for SCTE plants, so the public series covered about 62% of the 36.3 GWh total (calculated here).

Public ENTSO-E generation data for Hungary therefore covers only part of total solar output; the duck-curve study and the methods page explain how this site handles that.

What this means for grid planners, investors and analysts

• Grid planners and traders. Use MAVIR's lines by plant type and its observed peaks, not the all-plants total. HMKE and SCTE were about 43% of the 8,871.2 MW on 31 August 2026. The negative quarter-hours study and the hourly imports study show where the grid feels it.
• Investors and lenders. Ask for DC and AC capacity and their ratio: about 1.4 for the Szolnok plant, 1.2 to 1.3 in SolarPower Europe's sector assumptions. A DC claim such as 10.2 GW cannot sit beside an AC figure such as MAVIR's 8,105 MW.
• Analysts and policy trackers. Quote the date, unit and plant types with every figure. "More than 9 GW" is a renewables total, not a solar figure.

Limits of this explanation

Totals can change because MAVIR's HMKE and SCTE values are preliminary. MAVIR's PV statistics do not state AC or DC, both Energy-Charts explanations are inferences, pv magazine does not describe MANAP's method, and the generation comparison covers one day. Sums, differences, ratios and shares (6.77 GW, 175 to 316 MW, 1.26, 43%, 62%) are calculated here. All figures were checked on 10 October 2026.