China Dominates Global Solar Growth, Adding 300 GW In 2025 While US Storage Capacity Surges 32%

China added a record 315 gigawatts of new solar power in 2025, more than doubling its own pace from the year before. That pushed its total solar capacity to 1.20 terawatts by year’s end, a 35.4% jump from 2024. To put that in perspective, China’s first-half additions alone — over 211 gigawatts — were more than double what the rest of the world combined installed in the same period.

China’s 2025 solar additions alone outpaced the entire rest of the world — and it wasn’t particularly close.

China’s growth wasn’t steady throughout the year. A rush to lock in older government subsidies before May’s deadline drove over 92 gigawatts of installations in that month alone. Then, when China switched to a new auction-based pricing system in June, installations fell sharply. August hit a historical low of just 7.36 gigawatts. By November, things picked back up to 22.02 gigawatts, and a year-end surge pushed December past 40 gigawatts.

Both large-scale and smaller solar projects grew fast. Utility-scale solar added 98.8 gigawatts in the first half, up 99% from a year earlier. Commercial and industrial solar surged 135%, adding 87.18 gigawatts. Residential solar grew 62%, reaching 25.63 gigawatts. Xinjiang and Yunnan led utility-scale growth, while Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Guangdong led commercial projects.

China’s dominance in global solar is striking. It accounted for 67% of the world’s 380 gigawatts of new solar in the first half of 2025, up from 54% the year before. Non-fossil energy sources now make up 60.4% of China’s total installed capacity. However, more renewable power on the grid’s also caused full-load hours to drop by 312 hours, down to 3,119, as supply sometimes outpaces demand.

Looking ahead, analysts expect China’s solar additions to slow in 2026. Forecasts range from 185 gigawatts on the low end to 275 gigawatts on the high end, with most estimates clustering around 215 to 220 gigawatts. That’d still be a massive amount by global standards. By the end of November 2025, China’s cumulative solar growth rate reached 41.9% year over year, reflecting the scale of expansion achieved before December’s final tallies came in. Meanwhile, the United States planned 64 gigawatts of total new energy capacity in 2025, with solar accounting for more than half, battery storage, wind, and natural gas making up the rest. China also added 119.33 gigawatts of new wind capacity in 2025, pushing total installed capacity across all sources to 3.89 terawatts by year’s end.