Where the clean-energy transition actually stands, using published figures from IRENA, the IEA, BloombergNEF and the EIA. Every number below is footnoted to its source.
Solar capacity figures are end-2025. EV figures are full-year 2025. Costs are the most recent published surveys. Last reviewed 24 July 2026.
Cumulative, end-2025[1]
China alone holds roughly half of all solar capacity on Earth, more than the next nine countries combined.[1] Germany is not shown separately because it is already counted inside the EU-27 figure.
Installed solar PV, shown at their own scale
These sit on a separate scale because next to China's 1,200 GW they would be invisible. Brazil is comfortably South America's largest solar market[5] and South Africa leads Africa with roughly half the continent's capacity.[6] Australia is a genuine global player at 41 GW.[1] New Zealand is small in absolute terms at about 1.1 GW, but growing fast, roughly doubling every two years.[7]
Full-year 2025[2]
Global electric car sales grew 20% in 2025 to exceed 20 million vehicles. The IEA projects roughly 23 million sales and close to a 30% share in 2026.[2]
| Market | Solar capacity, end-2025[1] | Share of world solar | Electric share of new cars, 2025[2] |
|---|---|---|---|
| China | 1,200 GW | 50% | ~55% |
| European Union | 365 GW | 15% | 28% |
| United States | 210 GW | 9% | just under 10% |
| India | 135 GW | 6% | not published in source |
| Japan | 92 GW | 4% | not published in source |
| Brazil | ~67 GW | 3% | not published in source |
| Australia | 41 GW | 2% | not published in source |
| South Africa | ~10 GW | <1% | not published in source |
| New Zealand | ~1.1 GW | <1% | not published in source |
Shares of world solar are calculated from the capacity column against the 2,392 GW global total and rounded. Cells marked “not published in source” are left blank rather than estimated. We do not publish numbers we cannot cite.
Figures reflect the most recent editions of each source available as of 24 July 2026. Reporting bodies revise historical data, and definitions differ between them (for example, “Europe” in IEA sales data is not identical to “EU-27” in IRENA capacity data). Always check the linked original before quoting these numbers elsewhere.
