Global Solar Installations Up 64 Percent So Far This Year

E360 Digest

September 3, 2025

Even as the U.S. guts support for renewable power, the world is still pushing ahead on the shift to solar energy, with installations up 64 percent in the first half of this year.

Solar is the fastest-growing source of electricity worldwide, and the buildout continues to gain pace, year after year. In the first six months of 2025, countries installed 380 gigawatts of solar capacity, up from 232 gigawatts in 2024, according to a new analysis from Ember, an energy think tank.

“These latest numbers on solar deployment in 2025 defy gravity, with annual solar installations continuing their sharp rise,” said senior analyst Nicolas Fulghum.

China accounted for most of the growth, installing more than twice as much solar in the first half of this year as it did in early 2024. The U.S., by comparison, saw solar installations rise by just 4 percent.

Through its exports of low-cost solar panels, China also drove growth in India and across much of Africa, the analysis found. Over the last 12 months, solar exports to the African continent rose by 60 percent, according to Ember. Fulghum said that for countries contending with a volatile fossil fuel market, solar has become an attractive option.

This year China has added twice as much solar capacity as the rest of the world combined, the analysis found, though the country is now at a crossroads. For the first time in China, solar isn’t just supplementing coal power, but replacing it. In an interview with Yale Environment 360, analyst Lauri Myllyvirta said that policymakers must choose between propping up coal, a keystone industry in many cities, or doubling down on renewables, a major driver of economic growth.