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Development of solar power in Greece started in 2006 and installations of photovoltaic systems skyrocketed since 2009 because of the appealing feed-in tariffs introduced and the corresponding regulations for domestic applications of rooftop solar PV. However, this mechanism overheated the market creating a big deficit of more than 500 million euros in the Greek "Operator of Electricity Market". Because that boom in the market couldn't be sustained, since August 2012, new regulations have been introduced including a temporary tax imposed to all operating photovoltaic power stations (residential applications excluded), licensing of new PV projects have been put on halt and the feed-in tariffs were drastically reduced.
Further development of solar power has been proposed as a way of getting Greece out of debt. Greece has proposed the largest solar power plant to date anywhere in the world. With 3,000–10,000 megawatts (MW) of installed capacity, Project Helios would be built in sections and in locations still to be determined.
By April 2015, the total installed photovoltaic capacity in Greece had reached 2,442.6 MWp from which 350.5 MWp were installed on rooftops and the rest were ground mounted. A big fraction of these installations, namely 987.2 MWp were installed in the period between January–September 2013 despite the unprecedented financial crisis. Greece ranks 5th worldwide with regard to per capita installed PV capacity. It is expected that PV produced energy will cover up to 7% of the country's electricity demand in 2014.