For the first time ever, solar power contributed more to global energy supply growth than any other source in a single year — and it wasn’t close. According to a new review by the International Energy Agency (IEA), solar photovoltaic generation added 600 terawatt-hours worldwide, accounting for more than a quarter of all global energy supply growth. No electricity technology has ever posted a larger single-year structural gain.
At a glance
- Solar PV growth: Solar accounted for more than 25% of global energy supply growth in 2025 C.E., adding 600 TWh — the largest single-year increase ever recorded for any electricity technology.
- Battery storage: Battery energy storage systems (BESS) added roughly 110 gigawatts of capacity, surpassing the largest-ever annual additions for natural gas.
- Electric vehicle sales: EV sales rose more than 20%, topping 20 million units worldwide and reducing road fuel demand at scale.
Why this year was different
Global energy demand grew 1.3% in 2025 C.E., just under the previous decade’s 1.4% average. But electricity demand surged about 3% — a sign that electrification of transport, heating, and industry is accelerating faster than total energy consumption.
Solar led the way. Renewables and nuclear together met nearly 60% of all global demand growth, with natural gas filling in at 17%. Coal-fired electricity generation fell globally as a result — a meaningful structural shift, even if coal’s total share remains large.
The IEA is an intergovernmental organization based in Paris that tracks energy data across its 31 member countries and beyond. Its annual reviews are among the most closely watched benchmarks in global energy policy.
The battery milestone that flew under the radar
The solar headline may have grabbed attention, but the battery storage number is striking in its own right. Adding 110 GW of battery energy storage in a single year means the grid is becoming not just greener but more flexible. Storage is what allows solar and wind — which generate power only when the sun shines or the wind blows — to reliably meet demand around the clock.
That 110 GW figure exceeded the largest annual capacity additions ever recorded for natural gas. In other words, the world added more battery capacity than it has ever added gas capacity in a year. That’s a quiet but significant turning point in how electricity systems are being built.
Emissions and what still needs work
Energy-related CO2 emissions rose around 0.4% in 2025 C.E. — a much slower rate than energy demand growth, which suggests the clean energy buildout is doing real work. China’s emissions declined and India’s remained flat, two results that would have seemed optimistic projections just a few years ago.
Still, a 0.4% rise means emissions are still moving in the wrong direction. The pace of clean energy deployment needs to accelerate further — and expand beyond electricity into harder-to-decarbonize sectors like shipping, aviation, and heavy industry — for global climate targets to stay within reach. The gains are real, but the gap between progress and what’s needed remains wide.
Electric vehicles close in on a tipping point
More than 20 million electric cars sold in 2025 C.E. is more than a market milestone. It’s a demand signal. When EVs pass a certain share of new vehicle sales in major markets, road fuel demand begins to structurally decline rather than just slow. That process appears to be underway.
The IEA review notes that rising EV adoption is already limiting road fuel demand globally. This matters for oil markets, for emissions, and for the pace of energy transition. It also reflects something often underreported: the fastest EV adoption rates are occurring in China, which now accounts for the majority of global electric vehicle sales and has built a manufacturing base that is driving prices down worldwide.
A milestone built on decades of investment
Solar’s record-breaking year didn’t happen overnight. It reflects decades of research, policy support, falling manufacturing costs, and deployment at scale — much of it driven by countries and communities that bet early on the technology. The International Renewable Energy Agency has tracked how solar costs have fallen more than 90% since 2010 C.E., making it the cheapest source of new electricity generation in most of the world.
That cost collapse has opened solar deployment to countries that couldn’t have afforded it a decade ago. The result is a more distributed global energy buildout — one that increasingly includes nations in the Global South, where energy access and climate resilience often go hand in hand.
It’s also worth remembering that the foundational science behind photovoltaics stretches back to the 19th century, with significant contributions from researchers across Europe, the United States, and beyond. The record set in 2025 C.E. is the result of a very long runway.
For context on what global deployment looks like in practice, Bloomberg’s energy transition trackers show solar now installed on every inhabited continent, in climates from the Sahara to Scandinavia. The technology has proven more adaptable than early skeptics predicted.
Read more
For more on this story, see: Solar Bytes — IEA reports global PV energy supply growth
For more from Good News for Humankind, see:
- Renewables now make up at least 49% of global power capacity
- Indigenous land rights and COP30: 160 million hectares
- The Good News for Humankind archive on solar energy
About this article
- 🤖 This article is AI-generated, based on a framework created by Peter Schulte.
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