Global Solar Capacity

Methodology

IMPORTANT — published solar figures disagree, and the reason is technical rather than editorial. Capacity can be stated on a DC basis (the panels’ rated output) or an AC basis (what the inverters can deliver to the grid). DC figures run materially higher. Sources rarely label which they use. That is why 2025 annual additions are OMITTED here. One IEA-derived source gives 553 GW for 2024 against the 602 GW seeded above, and another describes 2025 as "surpassing 600 GW for the first time" — which cannot be reconciled with 602 GW already added in 2024. Rather than choose, the annual-additions chart carries only the one internally consistent source pair (2023 and 2024). The cumulative series is internally consistent across its sources and is the more reliable chart on this page. The "Rest of world" slice on the country donut is DERIVED as the residual to 100% after China, the US and India, so the chart sums correctly. It is labelled as such in its value_basis. Re-verified 2026-08-10.