China's cumulative solar PV capacity grew from 0.9 GW in 2010 to 680 GW in 2025, lifting its share of world installations from 2.3% to 36.8%, accordin

China Data Portal (2026). Retrieved from https://chinadata.live/data/solar-capacity-china-vs-world/.

From China The global solar industry in 2025 closed the year with a record 1,850 GW of installed capacity — and China alone accounts for 680 GW of that total. Fifteen years earlier, in 2010, the country had just 0.

9 GW on the grid, barely a rounding error in a then-40 GW world market. Top of the chart: The 2025 milestone The 2025 global solar fleet hit 1,850 GW — more than double the 714 GW tallied just five years earlier.

China contributed 680 GW , or 36.8% of the total. The rest of the world finished the year with 1,170 GW , a figure that itself would have been unthinkable a decade ago.

The data, compiled by IRENA and the National Energy Administration, shows China's share stabilizing near 37% after peaking at 37.

4% in 2023, as installations in India, the European Union, and the United States accelerated. The other end: Where it all began In 2010, China's solar PV capacity stood at 0.9 GW — a mere 2.3% of the world's 40 GW.

At the time, Germany, Spain, and Japan dominated the rankings, and China was a minor player whose entire solar fleet could be matched by a single large gas-fired power plant.

The 2010 figure reflects a market still dependent on imported polysilicon and cells, with domestic policy support only beginning to take shape through a feed-in tariff scheme launched the following year.

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