This page was “Solar Energy 2023”. It has been updated with 2025–2026 figures.
Solar has gone from a niche to the single biggest source of new power in the world. Here is where the industry stands, in the US and worldwide, and what’s changing.
Worldwide
- A record year. The world added about 650 gigawatts of solar in 2025, another record.
- Fastest-growing source. Solar electricity output rose about 30% in a single year, and it met roughly three-quarters of the growth in global electricity demand.
- Renewables passed coal. In 2025, for the first time in about a century, renewables together produced more of the world’s electricity than coal did. See Renewables Overtake Coal.
- China dominates manufacturing, making the large majority of the world’s panels, cells and wafers. See The Changing Geopolitics of Renewables.
In the United States
- 43 GW installed in 2025. That was down about 14% from 2024’s record, but solar was still the largest source of new capacity for the fifth year running, at 54% of everything added to the grid.
- About 9% of US electricity now comes from solar (utility-scale and rooftop combined), up from almost nothing in 2010. Wind and solar together passed coal in 2025.
- More than 280,000 jobs. The Bureau of Labor Statistics expects solar installer jobs to grow about 37% over the next decade.
What changed in 2025–2026
- Federal support was cut back. The 2025 budget law ended the 30% homeowner tax credit after 2025. It also limits business credits for solar to projects that started construction by July 4, 2026 or are finished by the end of 2027. Industry forecasters expect slower US growth later in the decade as a result.
- Solar plus storage became standard. Most large new solar farms now come with batteries, and so do more and more home systems.
- Tariffs and trade rules on imported panels and cells keep US prices higher than elsewhere, while encouraging new US factories.
- Demand keeps rising, driven by data centers and electrification. Solar remains the fastest source of new power to build.
Technology to watch
- Bifacial panels and trackers. Two-sided panels on tracking mounts that follow the sun are now standard in big solar farms.
- Perovskite-silicon tandem cells. These have passed 34% efficiency in the lab, against roughly 22–24% for today’s best commercial panels. See Advanced Photovoltaics.
