China installed 9.66 GW AC of new solar capacity in September 2025, rebounding from August
Total 9M 2025 solar installations reached 240.27 GW AC, up 79.39 GW YoY, according to the NEA
The country’s cumulative solar PV capacity reached 1.13 TW at the end of September 2025
China added 9.66 GW AC of new solar PV capacity in September 2025, bringing total installations for the initial 9 months of the year to 240.27 GW AC, according to the National Energy Administration (NEA).
While still short of double digits, September’s additions rebounded from a record low of 7.36 GW AC recorded in August 2025, after falling to 11.04 GW AC in July (see China’s Solar PV Additions Fall To Just Over 7 GW in August 2025).
Solar installations in China have been on a downward slope since May of this year, when developers rushed to meet the feed-in-tariff (FIT) deadline, bringing close to 93 GW AC online within the month (see China’s July 2025 Solar PV Additions Drop Further To 11 GW).
Between January and September 2025, installations increased sharply by 79.39 GW AC compared to 160.88 GW AC during the same period in 2024, which had included 20.89 GW AC added in September (see Chinese Solar Installations Exceed 160 GW During 9M 2024).
According to the NEA, at the end of September 2025, the country had already achieved 1.71 TW AC of cumulative capacity, comprising 1.13 TW AC of solar PV (45.7% YoY increase) and 580 GW (21.3% YoY increase) of wind energy.
Having achieved its 1.2 TW AC combined solar and wind target for 2030 well ahead of the target year, China now aims for 3.6 TW AC by 2035, meaning close to 2 TW AC of new additions over the next 10 years, which is somewhat unambitious for the world’s largest solar PV market (see China Announces 3.6 TW AC Solar & Wind Target For 2035).
An expert on the Chinese solar market, Frank Haugwitz of AECEA, reflected on the 2035 target in a recent LinkedIn post. According to him, Beijing’s targets are often conservative and meant to be exceeded, i.e., the 1.2 TW target for 2030. However, reaching the 3.6 TW will require China to install between 150 GW AC and 190 GW AC annually. For solar PV, it will be down from over 277 GW AC installed in 2024 and will perhaps be lower than the up to 300 GW AC the market is expected to install this year. This contraction of domestic demand may threaten many solar and wind companies, which will not bode well for China’s global position in the clean technology space.
Haugwitz believes solar PV annual installations may average around 180 GW in the coming years under the country’s 15th Five-Year Plan that begins from January 1, 2026.
“In light of this it can be reasonably expected that the annual deployment of wind & solar won’t be in the range of just 150 to 190 GW, but possibly rather in a range btw 230, 280 and up to 310 GW (AC) assuming that the 3600 GW target will be exceeded btw 12, 25 and up to 33%. That means by 2035 China could be home to 4000, 4500 or even up to 4800 GW (AC),” writes Haugwitz.