The Future of Renewable Energy in the US vs. The Rest of the World
China deployed 256 GW of solar in H1 2025. That's 2x more solar deployed than the rest of the world combined. Why is global solar surging while U.S. policy shifts away?
One topic that The Fusion Report has covered several times (especially relative to fusion energy) is renewable energy, in particular solar energy. Clearly, solar energy has a number of drawbacks such as: lack of dispatchability (unless batteries are utilized); the need for new transmission lines to bring the power to metropolitan areas where it is consumed; and the need for significant land to site the solar arrays. Additionally, the Trump Administration has implemented policies to deprioritize solar energy in favor of fossil fuels; the abolition of the solar tax credits being just one of those steps. However, the rest of the world still seems to be deploying solar energy on a rapid basis. This article will examine what is happening both in other countries as well as in the U.S..
Solar Energy Before and After Trump 2.0
Prior to January 2025, the policies of the Federal Government regarding solar and wind energy were fairly positive. The biggest factor in favor of solar energy was the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022; there were three parts of the IRA that favored solar:
The overall impact of these incentives has been an estimated $45 billion in investment in U.S. solar energy factories in the 3 years since the passage of the IRA. Interestingly, the steps taken in Trump 2.0 (rolling back parts of the IRA, tariffs on products from China, and cancellation of various grants) have had the effect of further accelerating the deployment of solar energy resources, at least in 2025, as companies and households rush to deploy systems before the tax credits expire.
China, Japan, Germany, and Asia – Very Bullish on Solar Energy
By far and away, China leads the world in the deployment of solar energy, especially in 1H 2025. During the first six months of 2025, China deployed 256 GW of solar capacity; this is twice as much as the rest of the world combined (124 GW of capacity), according to Ember Energy. Just as interestingly, the amount of solar capacity deployed worldwide in 1H 2025 (380 GW) is nearly 2/3 of the capacity deployed in the entire year of 2024 (575 GW). If the pace of 1H 2025 continues for the rest of the year, roughly 760 GW of solar capacity will be deployed (a record!).
As we stated earlier, China easily led the world in solar deployments in 1H 2025. Replacing the United States, which has typically in this decade has been #2 behind China, is India with 24 GW of new solar capacity, an increase of 49% vs 1H 2024. The U.S. slipped to third place with a deployment of 21 GW of solar capacity, still higher than the 12 GW deployed in the 1H of 2024. Following close behind were Germany and Brazil, both slightly below their 1H 2024 numbers (but only slightly). Other countries showing growth in their solar deployments in 1H 2025 included Spain, Australia, Italy, Japan, France, and Turkey. Overall, in spite of the drop in solar installations in the U.S., the world is installing solar energy at a record-setting rate; in fact solar energy was the most-deployed power technology now for several years.
So Why Is Solar Energy Still So Popular in Spite of What Is Happening in the US?
In spite of its issues, there are several reasons why solar energy has become the most popular energy technology for new deployments:
Even in the U.S., market conditions are right to continue these deployments, in spite of the lack of government incentives to do so. The market worldwide is seeing the demand for electricity, and solar energy is one of the easiest (and in many cases, the only available) power sources to deploy. Until fusion energy starts to be commercially deployed, this situation is not likely to change soon.