The year sunlight went global: how the Paris Agreement brought solar power to the world

The report details the transition of solar leadership from mature to emerging economies following the 2015 Paris Agreement. It highlights the exponential growth of solar power globally, rising from 1% of generation in 2015 to 8.8% in the first half of 2025. The document specifically examines the roles of Brazil, China, and India, noting that these three countries account for 60% of all new solar capacity since 2015. It attributes this surge to national targets (NDCs), international climate finance, and the establishment of the International Solar Alliance (ISA).

• Solar power has become the fastest-growing electricity source in history, increasing its global generation share from 1% in 2015 to 6.9% in 2024, and reaching 8.8% in the first half of 2025. Global solar capacity reached 2.2 TW in 2025, achieving a milestone ten years earlier than 2016 predictions.
• Leadership in solar deployment has shifted from OECD nations to emerging markets. In 2015, mature economies represented three-quarters of global solar generation and 59% of new capacity; by 2024, the OECD share of new additions dropped to 26%, with two-thirds of new capacity now coming from emerging markets.
• Brazil, China, and India have been pivotal to global growth, collectively accounting for 60% of new solar capacity (approximately 1 TW) since 2015. In the first nine months of 2025, solar electricity shares reached 12% in Brazil, 11% in China, and nearly 9% in India.
• China has established global dominance in both generation and manufacturing, hosting 80-90% of global solar manufacturing. Its solar generation grew 21-fold from 0.7% in 2015 to 8.3% in 2024, and it met its 2030 target of 1,200 GW of wind and solar capacity by 2024.
• India's solar capacity saw a nearly twentyfold increase between 2015 and 2024, with an average annual growth of 40%. India co-founded the International Solar Alliance (ISA) to mobilize $1 trillion in funding by 2030, with the 'Affordable Finance at Scale' program already allocating over $2 billion USD.
• Brazil experienced rapid solar expansion with capacity growing by approximately 70% annually since the Paris Summit. Solar generation in Brazil overtook nuclear in 2021, coal and gas in 2022, and bioenergy in 2023, contributing 12% of electricity over the first three quarters of 2025.

APA

Miranda, R., & Black, R. (2025). The year sunlight went global: how the Paris Agreement brought solar power to the world. Ember. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2025/11/The-year-sunlight-went-global-how-the-Paris-Agreement-brought-solar-power-to-the-world.pdf

Chicago

Miranda, Raul, and Richard Black. The year sunlight went global: how the Paris Agreement brought solar power to the world. Ember, 2025. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2025/11/The-year-sunlight-went-global-how-the-Paris-Agreement-brought-solar-power-to-the-world.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Miranda |first1=Raul |last2=Black |first2=Richard |title=The year sunlight went global: how the Paris Agreement brought solar power to the world |publisher=Ember |date=14 November 2025 |url=https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2025/11/The-year-sunlight-went-global-how-the-Paris-Agreement-brought-solar-power-to-the-world.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{miranda2025year, author = {Miranda, Raul and Black, Richard}, title = {{The year sunlight went global: how the Paris Agreement brought solar power to the world}}, institution = {Ember}, year = {2025}, month = nov, url = {https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2025/11/The-year-sunlight-went-global-how-the-Paris-Agreement-brought-solar-power-to-the-world.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }