Capacity, annual additions and the growth of distributed solar
Global installed solar PV capacity
2,383.16GW
End-CY2025; up 27.3% over CY2024
China: solar added in CY2025
315.1GW
More than 60% of global PV additions
India: record solar added in FY2025–26
44.61GW
Against 23.83 GW in FY2024–25
India: installed solar capacity
150.26GW
As of 31 March 2026
Sources: IRENA, Renewable Capacity Statistics 2026 and Renewable Capacity Highlights 2026 (cards 1 and 2); MNRE and PIB, Government of India (cards 3 and 4). As quoted in Grace Renewables Energy DRHP, October 10 2026.
This note looks at where India stands in global solar power. It first covers the three largest solar markets by additions in CY2025, namely China, India and the United States. It then looks at India's own capacity, its growth and the policy support behind it.
International figures are for calendar year 2025 (CY2025). India's domestic figures are for the financial year 2025–26 (FY2025–26, April to March), with a later update to 31 July 2026. Capacity is shown in gigawatts (GW). One GW equals 10⁶ kW. Solar PV (photovoltaic) means panels that turn sunlight directly into electricity.
Global installed solar PV capacity grew from 859.67 GW in CY2021 to 2,383.16 GW in CY2025. Yearly growth was between 22.3% and 34.6% over CY2022 to CY2025, and stood at 27.3% in CY2025.
Figure 1: Global installed solar PV capacity (GW) and year-on-year (YoY) growth
Source: IRENA, Renewable Capacity Statistics 2026 and Renewable Capacity Highlights 2026, as quoted in Grace Renewables Energy DRHP, October 10 2026.
China, India and the United States added the most solar capacity in CY2025. Table 1 gives their additions along with their total renewable capacity at the end of the year.
| Country | Solar added (GW) | Total renewable capacity (GW) |
|---|---|---|
| China | 315.1 | 2,258.02 |
| India | about 37 | 250.52 |
| United States | 34.0 | 467.92 |
Source: IRENA, Renewable Capacity Statistics 2026, as quoted in Grace Renewables Energy DRHP, October 10 2026. Total renewable capacity includes solar, wind, hydropower and other renewable sources.
China is the largest solar market in the world. Its addition of about 315.1 GW in CY2025 was more than 60% of global solar PV additions. This was more than eight times India's additions and more than nine times those of the United States.
China also added about 119.4 GW of wind capacity, nearly three-quarters of global wind additions, and about 96% of global hydropower additions. Its domestic industry covers the full PV chain, from polysilicon and wafers to cells and modules. Because of this scale, China's market influences module prices, manufacturing investment and global supply conditions.
India added about 37 GW of solar capacity in CY2025. This made it the second-largest market for annual additions, ahead of the United States.
The United States added about 34.0 GW in CY2025, which was 19.2% higher than its 2024 additions. Its market includes utility-scale projects, residential rooftop systems, commercial and industrial systems, and projects that combine solar with storage.
The outlook is less certain than for China and India. The latest IEA forecast, as quoted in the source, has lowered the US renewable-energy outlook because of changes in federal incentives, restrictions on foreign entities and permitting conditions. Solar PV is still expected to be one of the main technologies adding to US electricity supply through 2030.
Based on IRENA's Renewable Energy Statistics 2026, as cited by the Government of India, India ranked third in total renewable capacity at the end of CY2025, with 250.52 GW. China ranked first with 2,258.02 GW and the United States second with 467.92 GW.
By 31 March 2026, India's renewable capacity was 274.68 GW. Solar was the largest part at 150.26 GW. With nuclear power included, India's non-fossil capacity was 283.46 GW.
| Source | Capacity (GW) |
|---|---|
| Solar | 150.26 |
| Wind | 56.09 |
| Large hydro | 51.41 |
| Bioenergy | 11.75 |
| Small hydro | 5.17 |
| Total renewable | 274.68 |
Source: MNRE and PIB, Government of India, as quoted in Grace Renewables Energy DRHP, October 10 2026.
India's installed solar capacity was only 2.82 GW in March 2014. At 150.26 GW in March 2026, it has grown by more than 53 times.
India added 44.61 GW of solar capacity in FY2025–26, its highest ever for a year. In FY2024–25 the addition was 23.83 GW. Table 3 shows how the cumulative capacity of 150.26 GW was divided at the end of March 2026.
| Segment | Capacity (GW) |
|---|---|
| Utility-scale | 110.43 |
| Rooftop solar | 25.73 |
| PM-KUSUM and other off-grid | 14.10 |
| Total solar | 150.26 |
Source: MNRE and PIB, Government of India, as quoted in Grace Renewables Energy DRHP, October 10 2026.
The Government of India later reported cumulative solar capacity of 164.59 GW as of 31 July 2026. This comprised 122.57 GW of ground-mounted solar, 30.74 GW of grid-connected rooftop solar, 4.77 GW of solar in hybrid projects and 6.51 GW of off-grid solar.
Distributed solar added 16.31 GW in FY2025–26, which is more than one-third of the year's additions. Of this, rooftop solar contributed 8.71 GW and PM-KUSUM 7.67 GW. PM-KUSUM is the Government's scheme for solar power in agriculture. These figures show that India's market is moving beyond large solar parks towards a mix of utility-scale, rooftop, commercial and industrial, captive, open-access, PM-KUSUM and hybrid projects.
Several Government programmes support this growth. These include the PM-Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana, rooftop solar initiatives, PM-KUSUM, solar parks and competitive auctions for renewable energy.
The Government has also supported domestic PV manufacturing through the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for high-efficiency solar PV modules and the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM) framework. The aim is to raise domestic manufacturing capacity, reduce import dependence and build a more integrated solar PV supply chain.
India aims to have 500 GW of installed electricity capacity from non-fossil sources by 2030. At 283.46 GW in March 2026, the gap to the target is 216.54 GW. This is a simple difference and not a forecast. It shows that a large amount of new non-fossil capacity is still needed.