Global growth in solar “the largest ever observed for any source”

Moving to a solar-dominated grid

When it comes to supplying electrons for those options, the central story is solar power. “The absolute growth of solar PV production to 2025 is the largest yet seen for any source,” the IEA says, “except in years marked by global economic shocks such as COVID-19.” In other words, with nothing in particular happening in energy markets in 2025, solar’s growth was unprecedented. On its own, its growth covered a quarter of the growing demand for all types of energy. If you limit it to electricity, increased solar generation covers more than two-thirds of the increased demand.

Overall, solar energy generated more than 2,700 terawatt-hours of electricity last year, more than double the amount three years earlier. It now accounts for more than 8 percent of the world’s total electricity production. Thirty different countries installed at least one gigawatt of solar power last year, and it is now the largest grid source by capacity (although other sources are still producing more than that at this time).

The solar boom is the primary reason why carbon-free generating sources—hydro, nuclear, solar, wind and other renewables—were able to grow faster than demand in 2025. In other words, as electrification increases, we are at the point where we are able to meet additional demand without increasing carbon emissions. These sources covered about 60 percent of the total increase in demand for all types of energy.

Along with the growth of solar energy is coming a key enabling technology: batteries. Batteries were the fastest-growing power technology, with capacity additions expected to increase by 40 percent between 2024 and 2025, reaching 110 GW of new capacity last year. This clearly exceeds the largest one-year increase in natural gas capacity and takes our total installed capacity more than 10 times what it was just five years ago. Batteries, when combined with cheap solar power, may limit the need for fossil fuel-powered backups.

As noted above, natural gas use increased (about 1 percent), but this was primarily due to weather-driven heating demand. Coal was largely flat, with use increasing only 0.4 percent. While the US saw a slight increase in coal use, coal use in the EU fell below 10 percent of electricity generation last year for the first time since statistics were kept. While China commissioned a number of coal plants in 2025, they were largely started during prior energy shocks. China actually saw a decline in coal use for electricity last year due to heavy investment in renewable energy (China was responsible for 60 percent of global renewables growth last year).