The global energy landscape has entered a defining decade. According to Ember’s Global Electricity Review 2025, clean power surpassed 40% of global electricity generation in 2024 — the highest level since the 1940s — propelled by record solar growth. Solar alone added 474 TWh, maintaining its title as the fastest-growing power source for 20 consecutive years.
Our latest AEInsights infographic zooms in on how this transformation has reshaped electricity consumption across the G20 countries, comparing per-capita electricity use in 2010 and 2024, and highlighting how solar energy now contributes to each nation’s power profile.
In 2024, Canada remained the most electricity-intensive G20 nation with 15.7 MWh per capita, followed by Saudi Arabia (13.4 MWh) and the United States (12.7 MWh). Yet, several countries have achieved more with less — Germany, France, and the United Kingdom all recorded lower per-capita use than in 2010, thanks to improved efficiency and decarbonization efforts. The standout story lies in Asia.
China’s electricity use per person surged from 3.1 MWh in 2010 to 7.1 MWh in 2024 — a reflection of rapid urbanization and electrification. Yet its solar generation per capita rose sixtyfold, from 0.01 to 0.60 MWh.
India nearly doubled its per-capita consumption from 0.76 to 1.4 MWh, with solar now providing 6% of its per-capita generation.
Australia presents a model case of distributed solar leadership: though overall per-capita demand declined slightly, its solar share quadrupled, reaching nearly 18% of national generation in 2024.
In contrast, European economies such as Germany, France, and the UK show decreasing electricity intensity yet higher solar penetration — a sign of efficient electrification coupled with a steady renewable rollout. Germany’s per-capita electricity use fell from 7.5 to 6.0 MWh, but solar now accounts for 0.88 MWh, nearly six times its 2010 level.
These shifts reveal two parallel forces: rising global demand fueled by electrification, and a structural decoupling from fossil-based growth. Ember’s report notes that clean sources met 79% of global demand growth in 2024, while heatwaves accounted for nearly all of the minor increase in fossil generation.
The G20 dataset reflects this turning point — countries with rising demand are increasingly meeting it with solar power. Emerging economies like China, India, and Brazil are leading the charge, while developed nations refine their systems with storage and flexibility.
As solar capacity doubles roughly every three years, AESOLAR believes that solar energy will remain the backbone of the clean electricity era, empowering both industrial transformation and individual households toward a sustainable, electrified future.
