Thanks to solar, renewables now represent half of the world’s total electricity capacity

Energy markets are changing fast. Faster than most people realize. There are clear winners emerging.

Renewables just pushed to nearly half of the world’s total electricity capacity in 2025. That’s not a forecast.

Even more interesting… almost all of that growth came from one place.

Solar.

Last year alone, the world added over 500 gigawatts of solar capacity. That’s more than four times the growth of fossil fuels. It’s now the single largest renewable power source on the planet.

At the same time, oil markets are getting shaken by geopolitical tensions. Prices spike. Supply gets questioned. The usual cycle.

But countries with strong renewable capacity barely flinched.

That tells you something important.

When a technology starts growing this fast… and starts insulating entire economies… you’re no longer looking at a niche trend.

Solar now consistently generates more electricity globally than nuclear power.

Solar has now crossed roughly 11%–12% of global electricity generation.

What tips us off to real, true, disruptive megatrends is how often records are broken. If new heights are constantly being hit, that tells us it’s the real deal.

After decades of being dismissed as “not quite ready,” solar is dominating the big leagues.

In California, solar now supplies a third of peak electricity demand. And it’s not just powering homes when the sun is shining. Energy is captured by solar panels during the day and stored in massive battery systems. Then, it’s pumped back into the grid after dark when demand is at its highest.

In 2004, it took a whole year to install one gigawatt of solar power. Now, we’re deploying that much every 12 hours!

Solar is the fastest-growing energy source in human history, and it’s not close.

Source: Ember

Solar energy isn’t some “West Coast liberal” money pit, either.

Guess who’s leading America’s solar boom?

Texas.

Yep, the heart of oil country has installed more solar capacity than any other state for three years running.

It also leads the nation in new utility-scale solar additions, with tens of gigawatts already online and more under construction. But overall US solar installations soar as developers move to secure tax credits.

Solar panels are made in factories, which allows for constant iteration and improvement.

This “made in a factory” magic means each time global production of solar panels doubles, the cost to produce them drops by around 20%.

That’s how, in the last 50 years, the price of solar modules has declined from $106 to $0.31 per watt—a 99.7% decline! And the plunge in solar costs continues to accelerate. In the first half of 2024, average Chinese solar module export prices fell to 13.7 cents per watt, down from 18 cents in 2023.

Source: Our World in Data

This virtuous cycle is relentless: Lower prices lead to more demand, which leads to more production, which leads to further learning and even lower prices. It’s a beautiful hockey stick curve that underpins solar energy’s disruption.

Many people still have an outdated image of solar. But sun power is no longer some hippie dream. It’s about cheap energy, and who doesn’t want a fatter wallet? We’re in an “energy-starved” world, and cheap, abundant energy is the foundation of everything we want for the future.

Bottom line: Solar is an unstoppable megatrend.

Regardless of who’s in the White House, solar will continue to grow fast in the US and throughout the world.

P.S. Check out this new solar technology where scientists developed night solar panels