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Last year was a huge one for renewable energy around the globe — but nothing showed up quite like solar power.
This week, energy think tank Ember released its review of where the world’s electricity came from in 2025, and it’s full of wins for clean energy. Last year marked the first time global renewables generation exceeded coal, with solar, wind, hydropower, and biofuels delivering just under 34% of the world’s power to coal’s 33%.
That milestone couldn’t have happened without solar power, which last year overtook wind to become the world’s biggest renewable power source. Here are three more takeaways that spotlight solar’s growth — and why it’s on track to continue.
1. Lots of countries are relying more on solar power.
Megawatt for megawatt, China is the world’s undeniable solar leader. But many smaller countries get a higher share of their power from solar.
Last year, Chile got a full quarter of its power from solar, while Hungary relied on solar for 27% of its electricity. That’s a huge spike from 2020, when the clean energy source generated less than 10% of the power in each of those countries.
They’re not alone. At least 50 countries relied on solar for at least a tenth of their power last year, up from just 15 countries doing the same in 2020.
2. Solar’s midday peaks are reaching new heights.
It’s no surprise that solar power generation hits its peak around noon. That was clear across last May, when solar generated an average of 25% of the world’s electricity around midday.
That’s a big share, but some individual countries had even more impressive results. The Netherlands generated an average of 77% of its midday power from solar across May 2025, while Hungary got a whopping 91%, easily beating its previous monthlong record of 67%.
The next step for many of these countries? Installing more battery storage so they can hold on to that power when the sun goes down.
3. Fossil fuel–dependent countries have huge untapped solar potential.
Solar is proving itself as a clean solution to rising power demand, but many countries aren’t taking full advantage.
The U.S. saw the third-largest rise in its electricity demand of any country last year, but it met 88% of that new need with clean power. India, meanwhile, saw the second-highest demand growth (after China), yet met more than half of it with fossil fuels.
That doesn’t have to be the case. India gets a ton of sunlight that’s still going untapped, as do Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Egypt, and other countries that are also still significantly expanding their fossil fuel use.
A judge this week temporarily halted the Trump administration’s enforcement of policies that had effectively blocked solar and wind projects that are on federal land or otherwise need a federal permit, Canary Media’s Maria Gallucci reports. Among the struck-down rules is a directive that required wind- and solar-related decisions to get Interior Secretary Doug Burgum’s personal sign-off, adding costly delays to many projects.
In their lawsuit, clean energy advocates argued that these roadblocks had led to roughly 57 GW of new “wind, solar, hybrid, and offshore wind capacity” being either canceled or put at risk of delay or termination, and jeopardized at least $905 million in investments.
Although the pause is only temporary as the lawsuit works its way through court, the judge in the case said the advocates are likely to succeed in proving the blockade violates federal law.
Global offshore wind soars as U.S. struggles continue
Offshore wind power is sailing forward in China, the United Kingdom, and beyond, according to a new report from the Global Wind Energy Council that Canary Media’s Maria Gallucci dug into this week. More than 9 GW of new offshore capacity came online in 2025, bringing the world’s total offshore wind capacity to about 92 GW.
But back in the U.S., the offshore wind blowback continues. The Trump administration recently made a deal to refund French developer TotalEnergies if it canceled its offshore wind leases, and now, French utility Engie says it’s in talks with the federal government to do the same. Turbine manufacturers are facing struggles of their own, with an American subsidiary of Germany’s EEW Group declaring bankruptcy in New Jersey. GE Renewables is meanwhile looking to get out of its turbine maintenance contract with Vineyard Wind, though a judge struck down its plan earlier this week.
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