According to data now available, 18 out of 27 European Union (EU) countries achieved record solar production this summer, including the Netherlands, Germany and Spain. However, France remains below the European average, where only 7.7% of the country's electricity comes from solar power.

Without this solar energy production, the EU would have to buy an additional 20 billion m3 of gas, analysts calculated, which would represent a bill of 29 billion euros at the daily gas price between May and August.