According to a joint forecast by Germany’s Solar Industry Association, SolarPower Europe, and other institutions, global newly added solar photovoltaic capacity is expected to exceed 600 gigawatts (GW) in 2025, doubling the figure from 2022 and marking a period of rapid growth for solar power worldwide. China continues to lead the market, Germany has achieved breakthroughs despite unfavorable natural conditions, and cross-sector solutions involving electric vehicles, spurred by grid storage challenges, are garnering significant attention.
Data from the China Electricity Council shows that the country added 430 GW of new power generation capacity in 2024, with wind and solar power accounting for over 80% of this total, reaching 360 GW. Solar power alone contributed 329 GW of new capacity, a figure equivalent to twice the combined new additions of the 2nd to 10th ranked countries globally. By the end of 2024, China’s total installed solar capacity had reached 893 GW, further consolidating its leading global position.
Germany also delivered a strong performance. By the end of 4, its total installed solar capacity surpassed 100 GW, ranking behind only China, the United States, and India. The country added 17.5 GW of new solar capacity in 2024 alone. Carsten Körnig, President of the German Solar Industry Association (BSW-Solar), told Deutsche Presse-Agentur that growth might slow slightly in 2025, with the residential rooftop PV market potentially cooling down, but the market for balcony solar power systems is expected to remain robust.
With the surge in solar installations, grid storage has become a universal challenge. Significant amounts of electricity generated during peak sunshine hours require storage facilities to avoid energy waste. Addressing this, Herbert Diess, former CEO of Volkswagen and now an executive at charging service provider Mobility House, proposed a solution: Electric vehicles with grid storage capabilities are already beginning to enter the market. These vehicles can act as distributed storage units, potentially reducing ownership costs and boosting the European EV market.
Currently, Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) technology is being piloted in several countries. Nine Chinese cities, including Shanghai and Guangzhou, have been included in the first batch of large-scale application pilots, with Guangzhou allocating an annual special subsidy of 20 million yuan for this purpose. The Energy Storage Leading Alliance predicts that the global V2G market will grow from $3.78 billion in 2023 to $45.09 billion by 2033, providing crucial supporting infrastructure for the development of solar power.
