Solar Declared the Fastest Growing Source of Electricity in History

The energy think tank Ember confirmed in 2025 that solar is now the fastest growing source of electricity in history. A decade ago, solar accounted for just 1% of global electricity; today it's 9% and rising rapidly. In China alone, solar generation has grown 20-fold.

Key to this explosive growth is the continuing collapse in solar costs, which have fallen by around 90% in a decade. This has made solar the cheapest form of new electricity generation in most of the world.

“A decade ago, solar accounted for just 1% of global electricity; today it's 9% and rising rapidly.”

'We are seeing the first signs of a crucial turning point,' said Małgorzata Wiatros-Motyka, a senior electricity analyst at Ember. Combined with wind power, renewables overtook coal as the world's leading source of electricity for the first time in 2025, marking a historic milestone in the global energy transition.