9% of global electricity is generated from Solar in 2025/2026

Solar generated almost 3,000 TWh globally in the 12 months from July 2025 to June 2026, supplying 9.4% of global electricity consumption—nearly one-tenth. That compares with just 340 TWh and a 1.4% share in 2016. Over the decade, solar generation increased more than eightfold, adding around 2,600 TWh while its share rose by 8.1 percentage points. This substantial expansion makes solar an increasingly important contributor to clean electricity supply as electrification and AI create additional demand.

People's Republic of China leads both in scale and in five-year additions, generating around 1,270 TWh—roughly two-fifths of the global solar total—and adding about 940 TWh over five years. United States and India follow in both measures, while Brazil also stands out for adding around 72 TWh. Leadership looks different when measured by national electricity share: North Macedonia obtains around two-fifths of its electricity from solar, Lebanon almost a third, and Chile and Pakistan roughly a quarter each. Australia leads generation per person at over 2,100 kWh, followed by North Macedonia at nearly 1,900 kWh; Netherlands and Spain each produce around 1,400 kWh per person. Among US states, California generates about 93 TWh from solar and supplies almost a third of its electricity this way. Texas produces around 74 TWh, with both states exceeding 2,300 kWh per person, while Florida contributes another 32 TWh.

Solar’s expansion offers substantial climate advantages: its IPCC lifecycle carbon intensity is 45 gCO2eq/kWh, compared with 820 gCO2eq/kWh for coal, 490 gCO2eq/kWh for gas and 650 gCO2eq/kWh for oil. On these figures, solar’s lifecycle emissions are roughly 91–95% lower than those fossil-fuel sources. Alongside wind and nuclear, solar belongs to a group of low-carbon electricity technologies with emissions far below fossil generation. Building on solar’s gain of around 2,600 TWh over the past decade, further expansion of solar and nuclear, together with wind and other clean sources, can help meet growing electricity demand while reducing climate pollution and the air pollution associated with fossil-fuel combustion.