Home › Battery Technology › Global Solar Capacity Surpasses 3 Terawatts, Driven by Emerging Markets

Global Solar Capacity Surpasses 3 Terawatts, Driven by Emerging Markets

person Priya Sharma

calendar_today August 19, 2026 at 6:28 AM

schedule 2 min read

Urban parking lot with solar panel canopies providing shade and renewable energy.

Summary

Solar power has globally surpassed 3 terawatts of installed capacity, a milestone reached in under two years from 2 TW, according to BloombergNEF. Growth is accelerating with developing countries like Pakistan and Nigeria adopting solar rapidly, with projections of 9 TW by 2036.

Solar power has passed another big milestone. Solar has reached and quickly surpassed the 3-terawatt — yes, terawatt — marker globally. That’s how much solar power is installed across the world.

Naturally, a lot of the growth was from China, but a lot of it was also from emerging markets around the world.

The data come from BloombergNEF (BNEF), which also notes that the world went from 100 gigawatts (GW) in 2012 to 1 terawatt (1,000 GW) in 2022 or so. Another terawatt of solar power was installed within a few years, and now getting from two TW to three took less then two years.

Furthermore, the increasingly fast solar adoption is expected to speed up even further. BNEF expects the world will get to 9 TW by 2036.

Solar power adoption was heavily centered in developed countries initially, and then China came in and dominated the market, but now many developing countries are rapidly adopting solar power, including Pakistan, Nigeria, the Philippines, Cuba, and many others. In 2020, only 42 countries had 1 GW of solar power installed, and now that number is up to 74 countries. Regarding that 2036 target mentioned earlier, the most (above 25%) is expected to be in developing countries, whereas wealthy countries are expected to drop to 20%.