Solar farms are expanding across a rapidly changing electricity system, but capacity, generation, manufacturing and grid-queue figures measure different things. The statistics below separate observed 2024 and earlier results from 2025 estimates and IEA forecasts through 2030.
Key Solar Farm Statistics
The most broadly useful solar farm statistics are:
- 453 GW of global solar PV capacity was added in 2024, measured worldwide for that calendar year.
- 1,859 GW was the world’s cumulative solar PV capacity at the end of 2024, including distributed and utility-scale PV.
- Solar PV supplied 7% of global electricity generation in 2024, according to the IEA’s global electricity assessment.
- Solar and wind represented 97.5% of net renewable capacity additions worldwide in 2024.
- U.S. utility-scale solar PV generated 30,347 thousand MWh in 2024, using the EIA series for facilities in the utility-scale category.
- U.S. utility-scale solar generation reached 296,000 GWh in 2025, 34% above 2024, excluding small-scale solar.
- U.S. small-scale solar generated an estimated 93,000 GWh in 2025, up 11% from 2024.
- China installed 61.5% of the world’s new solar PV capacity in 2024, a share of annual additions rather than cumulative capacity.
- China held 48% of cumulative global solar PV capacity in 2024.
- Solar thermal collectors covered 777 million square metres globally at the end of 2024, a separate technology measure from PV farms.
- More than 5,520 GW of renewable capacity is forecast to be added globally from 2024 through 2030, across all renewable technologies.
- Utility-scale and distributed solar PV are forecast to supply almost 80% of worldwide renewable electricity expansion through 2030.
- At least 1,650 GW of renewable capacity was in advanced development and awaiting grid connection globally in July 2024, an estimate rather than completed capacity.
- Solar PV represented over 60% of renewable capacity in advanced global grid-connection stages in 2024.
- Solar PV and wind are forecast to provide 95% of global renewable capacity growth through 2030.
- Global solar manufacturing capacity was expected to exceed 1,100 GW by the end of 2024, which is manufacturing capability rather than installed farm capacity.
- About USD 25 billion of planned polysilicon and wafer projects were associated with cancellations in the 2024 assessment.
Contents
- Global solar PV capacity and annual additions
- U.S. utility-scale solar generation trends
- Monthly and annual U.S. solar farm data
- Regional concentration and solar thermal scale
- Solar farm forecasts and grid queues
- Solar manufacturing capacity and supply-chain pressure
Global Solar Farm Statistics: PV Capacity and Annual Additions
IRENA recorded 453 GW of new global solar PV capacity in 2024, up from 357 GW in 2023. The comparable increase was measured as annual additions, while cumulative capacity reached 1,859 GW at the end of 2024.
| Global measure | Period | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Solar PV additions | 2023 | 357 GW |
| Solar PV additions | 2024 | 453 GW |
| Cumulative solar PV capacity | End-2024 | 1,859 GW |
| Renewable capacity additions, all technologies | 2024 | 582 GW |
| Cumulative renewable power capacity, all technologies | End-2024 | 4,443 GW |
Source: Renewable Energy and Jobs: Annual Review 2025. IRENA’s capacity accounting covers solar PV for the PV figures; the broader renewable rows include all renewable power technologies.
Solar PV also became a meaningful part of the global electricity mix. The IEA reported a roughly 480 TWh year-over-year increase in global solar PV generation in 2024, when solar PV supplied 7% of global electricity generation; renewables supplied one-third, while renewables and nuclear together supplied two-fifths.
U.S. Utility-Scale Solar Farm Generation Trends
The EIA’s utility-scale series provides a consistent U.S. generation view. In the related EIA analysis, utility-scale facilities are defined as plants of at least 1 MW, and the annual table reports net generation in thousand megawatthours.
| Year | U.S. utility-scale solar PV generation |
|---|---|
| 2014 | 1,094 thousand MWh |
| 2016 | 1,920 thousand MWh |
| 2018 | 4,865 thousand MWh |
| 2020 | 9,915 thousand MWh |
| 2022 | 17,664 thousand MWh |
| 2023 | 22,230 thousand MWh |
| 2024 | 30,347 thousand MWh |
The later EIA assessment reported that U.S. utility-scale solar generation totaled 296,000 GWh in 2025, up 34% from 2024. That figure excludes small-scale solar, while the estimated 2025 small-scale total was 93,000 GWh, up 11% from 2024.
Source: Wind and solar generated a record 17% of U.S. electricity in 2025. EIA also reported 760,000 GWh from U.S. wind and solar combined in 2025, equal to 17% of U.S. electricity generation; this combined figure is not a solar-farm-only result.
U.S. Solar Farm Data: Monthly and Annual Production Patterns
Monthly output varies within the year, so annual totals should not be read as a uniform production rate. EIA’s 2022 utility-scale PV series shows higher generation in late spring and summer than in winter.
| Month in 2022 | Utility-scale solar PV generation |
|---|---|
| January | 1,057 thousand MWh |
| May | 1,845 thousand MWh |
| June | 1,834 thousand MWh |
| July | 1,809 thousand MWh |
| August | 1,715 thousand MWh |
| September | 1,488 thousand MWh |
| October | 1,459 thousand MWh |
| November | 1,046 thousand MWh |
| December | 982 thousand MWh |
Source: Electric Power Annual, Table 3.2.B. Net Generation from Renewable Sources: Electric Utilities, 2014-2024. These are monthly net-generation observations for U.S. utility-scale facilities, not a global production series.
The table’s small-scale solar column is estimated and is not a direct census of every distributed system. Keeping that estimate separate from utility-scale farm output is important when comparing participation, generation or system size.
Solar Farm Statistics: Regional Concentration and Solar Thermal Scale
Global deployment was highly concentrated in China in 2024. IRENA reported that China accounted for close to two-thirds of new global renewable installations, installed 61.5% of the world’s new solar PV capacity, and held 48% of cumulative global solar PV capacity.
| China measure | Period | Reported share |
|---|---|---|
| New global renewable installations | 2024 | Close to two-thirds |
| New global solar PV capacity | 2024 | 61.5% |
| Cumulative global solar PV capacity | 2024 | 48% |
Source: Renewable Energy and Jobs: Annual Review 2025. The first row covers all renewables, while the other rows concern PV; annual additions and cumulative capacity are different measures.
Solar thermal is another solar technology and should not be merged with PV farm capacity. IRENA reported 777 million square metres of global solar thermal collector area at the end of 2024, while annual solar thermal additions in 2024 were estimated at about one-third of their 2013 peak rate.
Solar Farm Forecasts, Electricity Shares and Grid Queues
The IEA’s forecasts point to continued growth, but forecast capacity is not an observed outcome. Global renewable capacity is forecast to increase by more than 5,520 GW from 2024 through 2030, with utility-scale and distributed solar PV together accounting for almost 80% of worldwide renewable electricity expansion.
- Distributed applications are forecast to make up almost 40% of overall PV expansion through 2030, including residential, commercial, industrial and off-grid projects.
- China is forecast to install 3,207 GW of new renewable electricity capacity from 2024 through 2030, while the United States is forecast to add almost 500 GW.
- India’s annual renewable capacity additions are forecast to rise from 15 GW in 2023 to 62 GW in 2030.
- Solar PV and wind are forecast to provide 95% of renewable capacity growth through 2030, and new solar capacity is forecast to represent 80% of global renewable power growth by 2030.
- The IEA’s main case sees almost 940 GW of annual renewable capacity additions in 2030, with China accounting for 60% of global renewable capacity expansion through 2030.
Source: Renewables 2024: Electricity and Renewables 2024: Executive summary. These figures include broader renewable categories where stated and are not all forecasts of solar farms alone.
Grid access is a separate development constraint. At least 1,650 GW of renewable capacity was in advanced development and waiting for connection globally in July 2024, up from about 1,500 GW in 2023; solar PV represented over 60% of that advanced-stage queue, compared with over 35% for wind and just over 1% for hydropower.
The IEA estimated that advanced-stage solar PV queue capacity increased almost 15% from 2023 to 2024. Across queue stages, late-stage or under-review renewable projects increased almost 8%, while early-stage capacity decreased nearly 15%; queued projects may advance, exit or fail to reach construction.
Solar Industry Statistics: Manufacturing Capacity and Supply-Chain Pressure
Manufacturing capacity describes the ability to produce equipment, not the amount of solar generation installed on farms. The IEA expected global solar manufacturing capacity to exceed 1,100 GW by the end of 2024 and forecast China to retain more than 80% of global PV manufacturing capacity across all segments by 2030.
The same IEA assessment identified pressure within planned and existing supply chains:
- About 300 GW of planned polysilicon manufacturing projects were cancelled.
- About 200 GW of planned wafer manufacturing projects were cancelled.
- The cancelled polysilicon and wafer projects represented approximately USD 25 billion in value.
- An estimated 17% of global polysilicon capacity was considered at risk because of age and suboptimal production processes.
- An estimated 10% of global wafer capacity was considered at risk for the same reasons.
Source: Renewables 2024: Executive summary. The cancelled amounts refer to planned project capacity, and the risk percentages are estimates rather than capacity already retired.
These manufacturing measures belong beside, not inside, farm-capacity totals: PV capacity, PV generation, solar thermal collector area, manufacturing capacity and grid-queue capacity are distinct units with different populations, dates and definitions.