Global solar capacity on cusp of producing enough electricity to power 100 million average US households

According to new data from the Global Solar Council as reported by Reuters, global installed solar capacity has now surpassed 2 TW, or enough to power around 92 million U.S. households. While the data has not yet been published, roughly 60 percent comes from ground-mounted solar compared to 40 percent on rooftops.

Entering the decade, there was 629 GW of solar capacity worldwide, meaning more than two-thirds of our solar capacity has been installed in just the last 5 years. The growth has been especially stark in recent years, with estimates that 529 GW will be installed in 2024. In light of last year’s United Nations Climate Change Conference in Dubai, where 118 countries committed to a target of 11 TW of solar capacity by 2030, this impressive growth will need to accelerate further to reach international clean energy goals.

In the midst of a shifting political landscape, it is worth reminding ourselves of the impressive solar growth we’ve seen on the world stage. Whether from utility-scale solar farms or a small residential rooftop system, solar growth is accelerating. There’s still a long way to go before solar can reach its targets, but impressive growth in the 2020s–specifically in the last couple years–reflects an immense amount of progress that we can build on.

“Solar has grown rapidly, on a global scale, in recent years,” said Johanna Neumann, Senior Director of the Campaign for 100% Renewable Energy at Environment America Research & Policy Center. “To build a greener and healthier future, we need solar’s remarkable growth to continue and use it to supplant dirty and dangerous sources of energy.”