The rapid expansion of solar capacity in recent years has made it the fastest growing source of new electricity generation. In 2024, global solar output rose by 28% (+469 TWh) compared to 2023, more than any other source.
China remains the global leader of this surge. In the first half of 2025, its installations more than doubled compared with the same period last year. As a result, China added more than twice as much solar capacity as the rest of the world combined, making up 67% of the global total. In the first half of 2024, China made up 54% of global solar installations.
These latest numbers on solar deployment in 2025 defy gravity, with annual solar installations continuing their sharp rise. In a world of volatile energy markets, solar offers domestically produced power that can be rolled out at record speed to meet growing demand, independent of global fossil fuel supply chains.
This growth was spurred in part by developers racing to complete projects before new rules on wind and solar compensation came into effect in June this year. While this may lead to a slowdown in the second half of the year, new clean power procurement requirements for industry and higher full-year deployment expectations from China’s solar PV association (CPIA) suggest that 2025 will surpass 2024’s record high installations.
Outside China, all other countries together installed an estimated 124 GW in the first half of 2025 — 15% higher than the first half of 2024. India recorded the second highest installations with 24 GW, a 49% increase over the already strong 16 GW added in deployment in H1-2024. The United States ranked third with 21 GW, up 4% year-on-year, despite recent moves by the US government to restrict clean power deployment. Deployment dipped slightly in Germany and Brazil. The remaining countries added 65 GW in H1-2025, 22% more than in H1-2024.
Growth in Africa is also beginning to take-off, as the amount of solar panels it imported from China rose 60% in the last 12 months, as Ember reported. However, lack of access to official installation data still obscures the actual pace of solar deployment on the continent.
With deployment surging across key markets and China’s rapid scale-up pushing global installations to new highs, 2025 is on track to become another historic year for solar power. The numbers highlight not only solar’s momentum, but also its pivotal role in reshaping the global energy system.
Ember is an independent energy think tank that uses data and policy to accelerate the clean energy transition. It creates targeted data insights to advance policies that urgently shift the world to a clean, electrified energy future.
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