A record 664 gigawatts (GW) of new solar PV capacity was installed across the world in 2025, helping to take the total solar fleet across the 3 terawatts(TW) mark in early 2026, tripling global capacity in just four years.
The new Global Solar Market Outlook 2026-2030, published this week by SolarPower Europe, says the 2025 capacity installation of 554 represented an increase of 69 GW compared with 2024, and 212 GW compared with 2023.
Solar PV accounted for 77 per cent of all new renewable capacity additions recorded in 2025, and finished the year by generating 2,778 terawatt-hours (TWh) – around 9 per cent of global demand.
However, the rate of growth is slowing, from 85 per cent in 2023 to 32 per cent in 2024 and 12 per cent in 2025, and SolarPower Europe also expects a temporary decline in overall installations in 2026, before growth resumes in 2027.
“The solar age is firmly established,” said Walburga Hemetsberger, CEO of SolarPower Europe. “With another record year in capacity additions in 2025, solar continues to outperform all other energy technologies.
