Energy · 2022

Terawatt of solar

Global installed solar capacity passes one terawatt.

Cumulative PV passed 1 TW in 2022 and 2 TW by the end of 2024, with China installing over half the world's new panels. Solar became the largest source of new generating capacity each year.

See it in the living tree Wikipedia

Arcs above join it to what it stood on, arcs below to what it led to. The bar places this stretch on the tree's whole timeline.

What it built on 1

Solar becomes cheapest power 2020

What it led to 1

Gigatonne-scale carbon removal ~2045

Related measurements

The dashed line marks when it first worked.

Installed solar capacity Latest: 2.4k GW (2025) Source: Our World in Data

Share of electricity from low-carbon sources Latest: 42.6 % (2025) Source: Our World in Data

World electricity generation Latest: 31.8k TWh (2025) Source: Our World in Data