Global solar PV installations hit a record 698 GW in 2025, supplying about 10.5% of global electricity demand, says IEA PVPS
China remained the dominant solar market, accounting for nearly 60% of global installations, followed by the EU and India, while Pakistan entered the global cumulative top 10 markets
Analysts said the industry’s focus is shifting from module costs to grid integration, storage, flexibility, and curtailment management as higher solar penetration affects electricity markets and project revenues
According to the International Energy Agency Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme (IEA PVPS), 2025 marked a record year for solar PV installations, with 698 GW of new capacity added globally. This pushed cumulative installed solar PV capacity worldwide to around 3 TW, up from 2.276 TW in 2024 (see IEA PVPS: Global Solar PV Capacity Exceeds 2.2 TW).
Globally, solar PV now accounts for close to 10.5% of electricity demand and 12% of electricity consumption, according to the factsheet of the 13th edition of the Snapshot of Global PV Markets report by the IEA PVPS, released in April 2026.
Despite a record year of installations, the 16% annual growth was lower than the previous year’s 28% (602 GW) and the 93% observed in 2023 (465 GW). “The progression from 602 GW in 2024 to nearly 700 GW in 2025 places the market one step closer to the 1 TW annual threshold that the experts have identified as the scale required to mobilise current manufacturing capacity,” observe the analysts.
China, the European Union (EU), and India were the top 3 solar markets last year by annual installations, with China alone accounting for around 60% of the global market share. The US was pushed out of the top 3, even as it installed close to 43 GW (see US Solar Deployments Dropped 14% YoY In 2025 With 43.2 GW DC Installed).
IEA PVPS analysts estimate China’s solar installation volume last year to range between 349.8 GW and 415 GW, depending on the AC-to-DC conversion ratio assumptions used for utility-scale projects. They explain that the lower figure is based on official Chinese data, while the higher estimate includes an additional 65.2 GW that may have been installed. However, according to an official announcement by China’s National Energy Administration (NEA), the country installed 315 GW of AC capacity in 2025 (see China Sets New Annual Solar PV Installation Record In 2025).
Germany stayed put in the 5th spot while Japan, Brazil, Spain, Australia, and Italy also remained among the top cumulative markets. With an estimated 15.8 GW, Pakistan entered the cumulative top 10 after 2 years of strong installations and revised historical data. Pakistan is forecast to reach 27 GW of cumulative rooftop solar PV capacity by 2030 (see Pakistan: Rooftop Solar Helps Tackle Fuel Supply Disruptions).
IEA PVPS underlines that while cumulative capacity is still concentrated in established markets, newer markets are increasingly appearing in annual rankings. This includes Saudi Arabia, which entered the global top 10 with 6.8 GW.
A total of 14 countries installed over 4 GW, and 39 are estimated to have installed at least 1 GW. In 2024, the number of countries above the 1 GW level totaled 33, while the number had reached 29 in 2023. The number of countries exceeding at least 10 GW of cumulative capacity reached 26.
Overall, at least 59% or 410 GW of the new 2025 capacity comprised centralized or utility-scale installations that expanded from 369 GW in 2024. Distributed PV contributed 286 GW (2024: 233 GW), driven by self-consumption and prosumer activity.
According to the analysts, even as installed solar PV capacity continues to grow, it is no longer sufficient to measure market progress amid rising curtailment and negative power prices. As solar penetration rises further, especially during peak solar generation hours, these factors can affect project revenues and demand for power purchase agreements (PPAs).
This can eventually influence further solar PV deployment, as deployment bottlenecks shift from module costs to system integration. The good news is that policy and market frameworks are evolving in response to these developments in terms of greater emphasis on storage, flexibility, market-based remuneration, and grid management.
“PV has entered a new era. Market growth remains strong, but system integration, flexibility and storage are now becoming the defining factors for the next stage of global deployment,” said Melodie de l’Epine, lead-author of the Snapshot of Global PV Markets report.
On the manufacturing front, overcapacity and low module prices continued to boost installations in 2025, but also kept pressure on manufacturers’ profitability. Governments across various geographies expanded policies to support domestic solar manufacturing through subsidies, trade measures, and industrial programs, though results varied by region. India remained a key example of effective local manufacturing support, according to the IEA PVPS, while Australia continued backing domestic production through its Solar Sunshot program (see Australia Announces AUD 1 Billion For Solar Program).
“2025 showed that manufacturing policy is increasingly shaped not only by resilience and local-content objectives, but also by the need to respond to overcapacity, price pressure and shifting trade routes,” observe the analysts. “In that sense, the year was marked as much by supply-chain adaptation under policy pressure as by the direct success of local manufacturing support itself.”
