Photovoltaics has developed into one of the most important pillars of global energy supply in recent years.
In 2024, solar energy reached a historic milestone by covering nearly 7 percent of the total global electricity demand. A recent report by Ember shows that photovoltaics is one of the fastest-growing energy sources in the world – and makes a crucial contribution to decarbonization.
Last year, global production of renewable electricity rose by an impressive 49 percent, reaching a total of 858 terawatt-hours. This increase underscores the accelerated growth of clean energy. The largest share is attributed to photovoltaics, which generated 474 terawatt-hours of electricity – an increase of 29 percent compared to the previous year. This makes solar energy a central component of global electricity generation today.
What stands out in particular: most of the progress in solar power production is due to the large Asian markets. China, the world’s largest producer of solar power, accounts for the majority of the growth, but India has also seen impressive growth: installed capacity in India more than doubled in 2024.
Despite the enormous growth of photovoltaics, hydropower remains the most productive renewable energy source. In 2024, hydropower accounted for 14 percent of global electricity generation. However, solar and wind energy are not far behind. With 8.1 percent, wind energy takes third place and also contributes significantly to clean electricity supply.
An interesting point in Ember's report is that nuclear power still holds a significant share of global electricity production. In 2024, the share of nuclear energy was 9 percent, a slight increase of 2.5 percent compared to the previous year. This is mainly due to the recommissioning of French nuclear power plants after extensive maintenance work. Together with renewables, nuclear power thus covered 40.9 percent of global electricity demand.
Despite the massive gains in renewable energy, it was evident that fossil fuels also saw a certain increase in electricity generation in 2024. Global electricity demand rose by 4 percent, and fossil power plants had to increase their output by 1.4 percent as a result. Interestingly, higher temperatures and the growing use of air conditioning were a key factor behind the rise in electricity consumption. Without this effect, the increase in fossil generation would have been only 0.2 percent.
In addition, new technologies such as electric cars and heat pumps contributed to the rise in demand, further increasing electricity consumption by 0.7 percent.
Despite the short-term increase in fossil energy, Ember forecasts an accelerated growth of renewable and nuclear energy in the coming years. This means that fossil power plants will contribute less and less to global electricity production.
Ember emphasizes that photovoltaics plays a central role in achieving global climate goals. The technology has established itself as one of the fastest and most widespread solutions to meet the world’s growing electricity demand. The use of battery storage in combination with solar energy will be crucial in ensuring that this clean energy source continues to gain massive importance.
Photovoltaics has clearly proven to be unstoppable. It is not only the fastest-growing energy source worldwide, but also plays a central role in the future of global energy supply. In combination with storage technologies, solar energy will increasingly help meet global energy needs sustainably and achieve climate goals.