Wiki-Solar: Global Utility-Scale Solar Capacity Reaches 1 TW DC

The cumulative global utility-scale solar PV capacity has reached almost 800 GW AC or 1,000 GW DC with new deployments of 182.7 GW AC in 2024, according to Wiki-Solar that maintains the world’s utility-scale solar database.

The 33 top countries in Wiki-Solar’s list account for 756 GW AC or 93% of the world’s total utility-scale solar installed capacity.

Counting solar installations of 4 MW AC and above as utility-scale PV plants, Wiki-Solar says the 200 GW AC annual additions for 2024 are preliminary figures as Q4 data is awaited from China and some other markets.

Nevertheless, Asia is clearly in the lead thanks to the ‘ongoing boom’ in China and India. While China is on top with 320.1 GW DC capacity with the inclusion of 80.7 GW AC in 2024, the US follows next with 132.9 GW AC (2024: 39 GW AC), and finally India with 83.1 GW AC (2024: 24.3 GW AC) on the 3^rd spot on Wiki-Solar’s list.

Installation activity in Europe has picked up pace, following a lull period from 2018 to 2022. Spain and Germany are strong markets in the region, installing capacities of 5.5 GW AC and 4.5 GW AC in 2024, respectively.

Elsewhere, South America has started to make a meaningful contribution, according to Wiki-Solar, as countries like Chile and Brazil steadily deploy new capacity. Brazil tops the continent in terms of utility-scale solar installations, thanks to rapid deployments in 2023 and 2024.

The list of 33 top countries also identifies Saudi Arabia, Poland and Portugal as the other leading nations in this space, as their cumulative utility-scale solar installed capacity expanded to 3.9 GW AC, 2.5 GW AC, and 3.7 GW AC, respectively.

Going by the pipeline of projects already in development, Wiki-Solar Founder Philip Wolfe expects the global total of utility-scale solar to surpass 1 TW AC capacity within 2025.