Solar power truly stole the spotlight last year. It helped push clean energy to a record-breaking milestone—supplying over 40% of the world’s electricity for the first time. As global demand soared, driven by extreme heat, solar stepped up as the fastest-growing energy source. Let’s study what top research reveals about this newly set solar record.
Solar Takes the Spotlight as Clean Energy Smashes Records
Ember’s Global Electricity Review 2025 showed how big this shift was in 2024. Clean power additions soared to a record high in 2024, with renewable sources adding 858 TWh of electricity. It’s 49% more than the previous high in 2022.
As said before, solar power stood out, contributing over 50% of the increase.
- In 2024, solar power generated a total of 2,131 TWh, with 474 TWh added that year alone.
Wind added another 180 TWh, and hydro rebounded with a 190 TWh boost after weather-related declines in 2023.
For the first time, combined wind and solar output surpassed hydropower. Still, hydro remained the single largest clean power source at 14.3% of global electricity.
- Quite shockingly, nuclear contributed 9%, though its share slipped to a 45-year low due to slower growth relative to other technologies.
Other low-carbon sources, including bioenergy and geothermal, made up just 2.6% of the mix. On the fossil side, coal remained the largest single source, generating 34.4% of global electricity, followed by natural gas at 22%. Overall, fossil fuels’ share dropped to 59.1%—its first dip below 60% since the 1940s.
Solar Meets 44% of New Energy Demand
IEA’s Global Energy Review 2025 highlighted that global electricity demand grew by a massive 1,080 TWh in 2024. It’s nearly 2X the average increase over the last decade.
Notably, China was the main driver, accounting for more than half of the new demand. Other major economies, including India, the U.S., and parts of Southeast Asia, also saw significant upticks.
- Now talking about the share, renewables covered about 77% of this growth. Solar alone met 44% of the increased demand.
Wind also grew, but at a more modest pace of 8%—its lowest rate in two decades due to supply chain bottlenecks and permitting delays, especially in Europe.
Hydropower saw a strong recovery after poor rainfall in 2023, particularly in Brazil, India, and parts of Sub-Saharan Africa. Nuclear output also ticked up by 4%, supported by new plants and restarts in France and Japan.
Annual change in global electricity generation by source, 2023-2024
Read more about the solar boom happening worldwide:
- India Hits 100 GW Solar Milestone, Eyes Global Solar Export Hub with EU Partnership
- MENA’s Renewable Energy Boom: Solar Capacity to Hit 180 GW by 2030
- South Korea Eyes Solar Power Supremacy by 2035: Can This Shift Outshine Nuclear in Just a Decade?
Solar PV and Rooftop Solar Additions
- Solar PV has now doubled its output every three years since 2016.
This made it the world’s fastest-growing electricity source for the 20th consecutive year. It was backed by huge capacity additions of 585 gigawatts (GW) in 2023 and 2024 combined. New installations rose 86% year-on-year in 2023 and jumped another 30% in 2024.
Rooftop solar and small-scale installations also played a major role. Ember pointed out that underreporting remains a challenge, especially in markets like India and parts of Southeast Asia, where rooftop deployment is growing rapidly but not always captured in official statistics.
From this data, one can infer that solar has had the best growth so far.
In the United States, solar capacity hit 128.2 GW by end-2024, due to 38.4 GW of new additions. Battery storage expanded by a record 14.9 GW, bringing the total to 30.9 GW. Residential solar continued to boom, with attachment rates rising from 14% to 25% in one year.
One such company that grabbed this momentum in the United States was SolarBank Corporation. Recently, it signed a new deal with a California-based renowned real estate and infrastructure investor, CIM Group. This deal provides project-based funding of up to $100 million and will support solar projects with a combined capacity of 97 megawatts (MW) across the country.
The company has significantly strengthened its position in community solar projects and is also stepping into the battery energy storage market.
Solar Bank’s community solar achievements:
- 7.2 MW North Main Community Solar Project in New York
- Expands Community Solar in New York with 14.4 MW Project
- Commences its First 4.99 MW BESS Project in Ontario
Are Coal and Gas Still in the Game?
The Ember report further disclosed that despite the expansion of renewables, fossil generation rose by just over 1% in 2024. Gas-fired electricity increased by 2.5%, driven by cheaper gas prices and growing cooling needs during intense heat waves. Coal power rose by less than 1%, half the pace of growth seen in 2023.
However, the emissions impact was significant. Power sector CO₂ emissions rose to 14.6 billion tonnes. That’s 228 million tonnes more than in 2023, undermining global decarbonization targets. Ember warns that unless electricity demand is better managed, extreme climate events could continue to drive up fossil use even as clean power grows.
Solar Growth Set to Soar Through 2034
The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) reported a 51% growth in the U.S. solar market in 2023. Projections suggest that annual deployments could rise 17% by 2034 under a high-growth scenario if current trends continue.
From this analysis, we can conclude that clean energy hit new highs in 2024, with solar powering much of the growth. Yet, heat-driven demand pushed fossil use and emissions up. The path ahead needs not just more renewables, but smarter grids and better demand management to stay on track for climate goals.
