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The scale and speed at which solar power has exploded around the world is reshaping energy systems in transformative ways. As the price of solar energy has plummeted over the past decade, solar energy has become a no-brainer for energy capacity addition in contexts around the globe, and its accelerating growth trends show no sign of stopping. At this rate, the world could run on solar much sooner than previously imagined. As of 2024, solar energy provided 7 percent of the world’s electricity – a stunning two-fold increase in just two years – and has managed to nearly keep pace with total electricity demand growth, powering 83 percent of the world’s total additional capacity in 2025. In fact, when looking at solar and wind together, renewables outpaced global electricity demand growth and generated more electricity than coal for the first time in the planet’s history. And we’re just getting started. A recent report from the International Energy Agency projects that the world will add 4.6 terawatts of clean power between now and 2030. This is an astonishing figure, at “nearly double the amount built over the previous five-year period, which was in turn more than double the amount built across the five years before that,” a Canary Media column detailed last week. “Put differently, the growth has essentially been exponential.” Although political tides are turning against renewable energies in major economies, including the United States, the solar boom is no longer tied to policy instruments. The economics of solar power have long outgrown government support, and the market will continue to buoy what has become, by far, the cheapest form of new energy installations. The cost of installing solar has plummeted by a mind-blowing 90 percent over the last decade and a half. “Right now, silicon panels themselves are the same cost as plywood,” Sam Stranks, Professor of Energy Materials & Optoelectronics at the University of Cambridge, recently told NewScientist. As a result, solar adoption has skyrocketed in some of the world’s poorest economies and regions without reliable energy infrastructure. Pakistan, for example, has quickly become an unexpected poster child of solar adoption as residents install rooftop solar and batteries in their residences. "The scale of solar being deployed in such a short period of time has not been seen, I think, anywhere ever before,” says Jan Rosenow, who leads the Environmental Change Institute’s energy program at the University of Oxford. And that growth trend is set to continue. Solar-plus-battery systems could provide over a quarter of Pakistan’s peak energy demand and most daytime electricity needs by 2030. “In other words, we have a plentiful and cheap source of electricity that can be built quickly, almost anywhere in the world,” NewScientist recently posited. “Is it fanciful to imagine that solar could one day power everything?” The answer to that question depends on the continued advancement of solar power technologies as well as supportive infrastructure such as smart grids and long-term energy storage. Scientists are racing to discover next-gen solar panels that are more energy-efficient than today’s silicon panels. Currently, tandem models that pair silicon with another material, such as perovskite, are receiving a great deal of research and development enthusiasm. “While it’s true that silicon is great, tandems are better,” Tomas Leijtens, a cofounder and the chief technology officer of next-gen solar startup Swift, told MIT last year. “In the fight to tackle climate change, we need to accelerate, not just say, ‘Oh, this is good enough—we’re done.’ Everything can continue to be improved.” Achieving solar expansion at a scale that is consistent with global climate goals remains a challenge, however, especially in today’s policy environment. But experts contend that even while politics could create significant bottlenecks, the economic momentum of the solar power sector is unstoppable. “By the end of this century,” says Kingsmill Bond, who works at global energy think tank Ember, “ it is pretty clear that we will be getting all of our electricity from renewable sources, of which the vast majority will be solar.” By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com China’s Sanctioned Yulong Thrives on Russian Oil Europe Set for Record Diesel Imports as Russia Sanctions Roil Markets Iraq Secures First Floating LNG Import Platform Deal with U.S. Firm
