Solar is winning the energy race

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illuminem summarises for you the essential news of the day. Read the full piece on DW or enjoy below:

🗞️ Driving the news: Solar power is rapidly becoming a dominant global energy source, with costs plunging and capacity surging across major economies

🔭 The context: China now generates 11% of its electricity from solar, while coal’s share has fallen from 70% to 56% over the past decade
• The European Union ranks second globally with 406 GW of solar capacity, covering around 13% of electricity demand, while coal has dropped to just 9%
• The United States, despite policy headwinds, has reached 267 GW of solar capacity, supplying about 8% of electricity, up from just 1% in 2015
• Emerging markets are accelerating fast, with Pakistan rising from under 1% to 20% solar electricity in a decade, and Brazil reaching around 10%

🌍 Why it matters: Solar is now the cheapest source of electricity in many regions, reshaping global energy economics
• Costs have fallen by roughly 90%, with large-scale solar producing power for as little as 1 cent per kWh in optimal regions
• By comparison, nuclear ranges between 14–49 cents per kWh, coal 15–29 cents, and gas 15–33 cents
• Solar is also transforming adjacent sectors, enabling cheaper electric vehicles and reducing heating costs via heat pumps
• In 2024 alone, 72% of all new global power capacity added was solar, far outpacing any other energy source

⏭️ What’s next: Solar is expected to become the world’s leading energy source, potentially supplying up to 76% of global energy in future cost-optimised systems
• Electricity demand could more than double by 2050, driven by electrification of transport and heating
• This will require major investments in grid infrastructure, battery storage and digital systems to balance supply and demand
• Technologies like EV batteries may increasingly act as distributed storage, helping stabilise solar-heavy energy systems

📈 One stat: In 2024, the world installed 597 GW of solar capacity, nearly five times higher than earlier forecasts

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