World added about 690 GW of solar in 2025, IEA-PVPS report says
Serguey Asael Shinder2 min readThe world installed about 690 GW of solar capacity in 2025, 15% more than in 2024, according to the Trends in Photovoltaic Applications 2026 report from the International Energy Agency's Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme, as reported by pv magazine. Cumulative installed capacity reached 2.96 TW by the end of the year, which the report says could theoretically generate around 3,845 TWh a year, about 12% of global electricity consumption.
China installed 415 GW, 60% of the global total. India followed with 54 GW, then the United States with 43 GW, Germany with 18 GW and Pakistan with 14 GW. The European Union as a whole added 68 GW. Deployment continued to spread: 36 countries installed more than 1 GW each, three more than a year earlier.
Centralised plants accounted for 410 GW of the new capacity, led by China with 256 GW, India with 42 GW and the United States with 35 GW. Distributed systems reached a record 282 GW, up from 228 GW in 2024. China again led with 159 GW, followed by Pakistan with 14 GW, India with 12 GW, Germany with 9.2 GW and Brazil with 7.9 GW.
Measured per person, Australia passed the Netherlands as the country with the most installed solar, at 1,604 W per inhabitant against 1,584 W; Germany is third at 1,413 W. China's figure moved above 1,000 W per inhabitant for the first time, to 1,040 W. In the foreword, the programme's leadership wrote that last year's deployment continued alongside significant industrial imbalance.
What it means
The distributed figure is the one that matters for grid operators. Rooftop and small commercial systems grew faster than their share of the total would suggest, and Pakistan's 14 GW of distributed solar, equal to its total additions, is a reminder that this growth happens behind the meter, where network planners see it only as falling demand.