Cumulative global solar PV capacity
Total installed solar PV capacity worldwide, GW.
About this data
Cumulative solar capacity went from 1,650 GW in 2023 to about 2,800 GW in 2025 — roughly a 70% increase in two years. Solar is now the technology with the largest installed generating capacity of any kind, globally.
Cumulative global solar PV capacity
Total installed solar PV capacity worldwide, GW.
Data table
| gw | year | series | source_ref | value_basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1650 | 2023 | cumulative_capacity | iea-renewables-2025 | Cumulative global solar PV capacity 1.65 TW at end-2023 |
| 2250 | 2024 | cumulative_capacity | iea-renewables-2025 | Cumulative global solar PV capacity 2.25 TW at end-2024 |
| 2800 | 2025 | cumulative_capacity | iea-ger-2026-solar | Cumulative solar PV capacity ~2,800 GW at end-2025 — largest installed capacity of any generating technology |
Methodology & sources
Last updated: Aug 14, 2026Methodology
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.
Sources
- IEA — Global Energy Review 2026: Solar PV and wind ↗ IEA terms — attribution required
- IEA — Renewables 2025: Renewable electricity ↗ IEA terms — attribution required
Comparisons are informative, not definitive. See each source for definitions and limits.