Solar a beacon of hope as Ukrainians yearn for peace
Nearly three years of war has taken its toll on Ukraine’s solar industry. Almost 13% of the country’s pre-war solar generation capacity was located in territories now controlled by Russian forces, explained Olga Sukhopara, former director of development at the Ukrainian Association of Renewable Energy (UARE).
“Some of these solar power plants have been damaged, destroyed, or looted, but most are now connected to the Russian grids,” Sukhopara told pv magazine.
The war has had an increasingly negative impact on the Ukrainian energy sector, not least because Russian troops are advancing at record pace.
Estimates vary but Russian forces took at least 3,000 km² of Ukrainian territory in 2024, with some analysts recording up to 4,000 km². In November 2024 alone, independent Russian news group Agentstvo reported Russian troops captured 600 km², marking the fastest advancement since the early days of the war.
In January 2025, Russian troops stood only 8 km from the border of the Dnipro region, which houses numerous solar power plants.
Life has not been easy at solar plants still under Ukrainian control, according to Danyil Shyriy, energy market expert at Kyiv-based think tank DiXi Group.
Industrial solar plants with 5.9 GW of generation capacity are still in service in territories under the Ukrainian flag, Shyriy said.
“They suffer occasional shelling but are gradually recovering and continue to generate electricity,” he said. He added that the losses in the solar power sector are the worst in the frontline regions, where plants can easily end up in the crossfire during artillery exchanges. “Large industrial solar plants in the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions suffered the greatest losses, with some facilities completely destroyed by shelling,” said Shyriy.
Fighting the darknessIn addition to ground assaults, Russia has been hammering Ukrainian energy facilities in massive aerial attacks involving barrages of missiles and kamikaze drones. Since late 2022, the country has been living under the constant threat of blackouts. Solar energy has been both a weapon and a target.
“Solar generation has played a critical role in mitigating the shortages caused by the loss of traditional power generation capacity,” said UARE's Sukhopara. Following a series of attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in the spring, solar power helped avoid daytime outages between May and June of 2024, making a substantial contribution to stabilizing the grid, Sukhopara claimed.
A decentralized generation model has proved more resilient in the face of continuing attacks. DiXi Group's Shyriy said thousands of rooftop installations on businesses and households partially cover daily consumption and help during emergency outages.
Along with electricity imports from the European Union, equal to the power generated by 2.1 GW of capacity, this factor reduces the deficit caused by the loss of large generating capacities and damage to thermal power plants – helping the Ukrainian economy to survive.
Even so, solar power generation has not been a silver bullet for Ukraine’s ongoing energy crisis.
“A significant part of the solar plants installed in Ukraine are grid-tied stations that cannot operate in case of outages,” Shyriy said. “This has significantly reduced their power generation potential in the event of stabilization or emergency power outages and has raised the issue of ensuring their autonomous operation.”
That can be secured by installing solar power plants in combination with energy storage facilities and hybrid inverters. Such solutions are not yet common in the country, however, not least because they require investment that not every company can afford.
International aid has proved essential in bolstering Ukrainian solar power generation since the invasion.
For example, Shyriy said the European Commission’s Ukraine Energy Support Fund had raised €875 million ($897 million), as of Dec. 19, 2024, to restore damaged power equipment. Some funding has been invested in green projects such as the 11 tenders recently launched for the purchase of solar panels for installation in Ukrainian hospitals.
Challenges remain. The ongoing conflict, systemic problems, and general economic uncertainty make substantial growth in Ukrainian solar capacity unlikely in the near future.
In 2024, the Ukrainian government introduced several programs to support renewable energy plants. Those included loans with state compensation to support interest rates for commercial projects. The “5-7-9%” loans are available to projects with a value of up to €3.3 million. For households, interest-free loans of €10,500 have been made available for PV and wind installations up to 10 kW in scale, when paired with energy storage systems.
Despite the state support, investment in utility-scale PV projects remains constrained. UARE's Sukhopara said this is largely due to regulatory uncertainties. “Developers face challenges in securing financing without a guaranteed off-take agreement,” she said. “Additionally, wholesale price volatility and low capture prices for solar power further deter investment.”
New paradigmCustomized/OEM/ODM Service
HomSolar Supports Lifepo4 battery pack customization/OEM/ODM service, welcome to contact us and tell us your needs.
HomSolar: Your One-stop LiFePO4 Battery Pack & ESS Solution Manufacturer
Our line of LiFePO4 (LFP) batteries offer a solution to demanding applications that require a lighter weight, longer life, and higher capacity battery. Features include advanced battery management systems (BMS), Bluetooth® communication and active intelligent monitoring.
Customised Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery Casing
ABS plastic housing, aluminium housing, stainless steel housing and iron housing are available, and can also be designed and customised according to your needs.
HomSolar Smart BMS
Intelligent Battery Management System for HomSolar Energy Storage System. Bluetooth, temperature sensor, LCD display, CAN interface, UART interface also available.
Terminals & Plugs Can Be Customized
A wide range of terminals and plugs can be customised to suit the application needs of your battery products.
Well-designed Solutions for Energy Storage Systems
We will design the perfect energy storage system solution according to your needs, so that you can easily solve the specific industry applications of battery products.
About Our Battery Cells
Our energy storage system products use brand new grade A LiFePO4 cells with a battery lifespan of more than 4,000 charge/discharge cycles.
Applications in Different Industries
We supply customized & OEM battery pack, assemble cells with wiring, fuse and plastic cover, all the cell wires connected to PCB plug or built BMS.
Applications: E-bike, Electric Scooter, Golf Carts, RV, Electric Wheelchair, Electric Tools, Robot Cleaner, Robot Sweeper, Solar Energy Storage System, Emergency Light, Solar Power Light, Medical Equipment, UPS Backup Power Supply.
We can provide you with customized services. We have the ability to provide a vertical supply chain, from single cells to pack/module and to a complete power solution with BMS, etc.
HomSolar (Shenzhen) Technology Co., Ltd
