Global solar power growth hit record levels in 2025, helping renewables overtake coal in the global electricity mix for the first time in a century.
For decades, coal dominated the global electricity system. Since the early industrial era, fossil fuels have powered factories, cities, transportation networks, and economic growth worldwide. But according to a major new energy report, a historic shift is now underway.
Ember’s Global Electricity Review 2026 found that global solar power growth reached record levels in 2025, helping renewable energy overtake coal in the world’s electricity mix for the first time in more than 100 years. The report describes 2025 as a landmark year for the energy transition. Record solar expansion met approximately 75% of all new global electricity demand, while fossil fuel generation remained essentially flat worldwide.
That stagnation in fossil generation has only happened five times this century. Researchers say the findings signal a potentially important turning point: renewable energy growth may finally be expanding fast enough to slow and eventually reverse global fossil fuel dependence.
Solar energy played a central role in that shift. According to Ember, solar remained the world’s fastest-growing electricity source for the twentieth consecutive year. Global solar generation increased by roughly 29% in 2025 alone, marking the largest annual increase ever recorded.
The scale of expansion has become enormous. The world is now adding roughly one gigawatt of solar capacity every 15 hours. Much of this growth came from China, which continued to dominate global solar deployment. However, rapid expansion also occurred across India, Europe, the Middle East, Latin America, and parts of Africa.
The accelerating global growth in solar power reflects dramatic declines in solar technology costs over the past decade. Solar panels have become significantly cheaper and more efficient, making them increasingly competitive with fossil fuel generation in many regions. In some countries, solar is now the lowest-cost source of new electricity ever developed.
At the same time, governments and businesses are investing heavily in renewable energy to meet climate goals and improve energy security. The report found that renewables collectively generated 40.9% of global electricity in 2025, surpassing coal’s share for the first time since the early 1900s.
This milestone was driven not only by solar, but also by continued growth in wind, hydroelectric, and nuclear generation. Still, solar was by far the largest contributor to new electricity generation globally.
The report also noted that rising electricity demand continues to create major challenges. Electrification of transportation, air conditioning, industry, AI infrastructure, and data centers is rapidly increasing global power consumption.
Historically, rising demand often meant rising fossil fuel use as well. But Ember’s findings suggest that global solar power growth is beginning to outpace much of the increase in demand. That shift is significant for climate change because electricity generation remains one of the world’s largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions.
Replacing coal and gas with renewable electricity is considered one of the most important steps toward reducing global emissions. Coal combustion alone produces enormous amounts of carbon dioxide and contributes to air pollution linked to millions of premature deaths worldwide. Renewables, by contrast, generate electricity with little or no direct emissions once installed.
The report describes solar’s rapid rise as one of the fastest energy transitions ever recorded. Only two decades ago, solar contributed a tiny fraction of global electricity. Today it has become a central pillar of the energy system in many countries.
The accelerating growth in global solar power is also reshaping geopolitics and energy economics. Countries heavily dependent on imported fossil fuels increasingly view renewable energy as a way to improve energy independence and stabilize long-term electricity costs.
Global solar power growth is reshaping electricity systems worldwide as countries rapidly expand renewable energy infrastructure. Photo by Sasun Bughdaryan on Unsplash.
At the same time, rapid renewable deployment is creating new industrial competition around battery manufacturing, grid infrastructure, and clean technology supply chains.
Still, the report emphasizes that major challenges remain. Although fossil fuel generation flattened globally, coal and gas still supply the majority of electricity worldwide. Many economies remain heavily dependent on fossil fuels, especially for industrial activity and grid reliability.
In addition, integrating large amounts of solar power requires expanded transmission networks, battery storage systems, and more flexible electricity grids. Solar generation is inherently variable because it depends on sunlight, making storage and grid modernization increasingly important as renewable energy shares rise.
The report also notes that heatwaves contributed to rising electricity demand in some regions in 2025 due to increased air-conditioning use. Climate change itself continues to shape energy systems in complex ways.
Even so, analysts say the overall trend is increasingly clear. Global solar power growth is no longer a niche development or a small supplement to fossil fuels. It is becoming one of the dominant forces reshaping the world’s electricity system.
And for the first time in more than a century, renewables have overtaken coal in that system. The significance of that milestone extends beyond energy markets alone. It suggests the global energy transition may finally be entering a phase in which clean electricity growth systematically displaces fossil fuel generation rather than merely keeping pace with demand growth.
Whether the momentum in the global solar power growth continues will depend on policy decisions, infrastructure investment, technological progress, and global cooperation over the coming decade. But the trajectory is already changing rapidly. The world’s electricity system, once built almost entirely around coal, oil, and gas, is increasingly being powered by sunlight.
