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New record: Solar provides 25% of EU's electricity

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Markus Lutteman

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For the first time ever, solar power provided a quarter of EU electricity last month. Solar generated a record 52 TWh of EU electricity in June 2026, making up 25% of monthly generation for the bloc.
Solar was the EU's largest source of electricity in June, ahead of nuclear (21%), gas (15%), wind (14%) and hydropower (12%), while coal fell to just 8%. It was only the third time solar has topped the EU's electricity mix, following June 2025 and May 2026, according to a new report from Ember..
Record solar generation coincided with higher summer electricity demand, driven in part by the need for cooling during record-breaking heatwaves. The surge in solar helped maintain power supplies as hot, still weather reduced output from other sources.
Even though the global solar market is expected to drop slightly in 2026 for the first time ever, due to a projected 24% decline in China’s solar market, the long-term growth trajectory remains intact.
Here are some recent sunny records and milestones from around the world:
💚 USA: In May 2026, solar generated an all-time high of 45.5 TWh, surpassing coal for the first time in US electricity history. Solar supplied a record 12.8% of the country's power compared to coal's 12.2%.
💚 India: In March this year, India surpassed 150 GW of installed solar capacity. Three months later, this figure has grown to 162 GW. India is now the world's second-largest market for new solar additions after China.
💚 China continues to beat every record, although the pace is temporarily slowing down in 2026. China installed more solar in the first half of 2025 than the rest of the world combined, and became the first country in history to exceed 1 TW (1,000 GW) of installed solar PV capacity by the end of the year.
💚 Pakistan has experienced one of the world’s most striking bottom-up solar booms. Pakistan has become one of the world's largest importers of solar panels, importing nearly 17 GW of Chinese modules in 2025. This year, rooftop solar is expected to exceed grid demand in major industrial hubs like Lahore, Faisalabad and Sialkot during the sunniest months.
💚 South Africa added 3 GW of solar PV for the first time in 2025, making it the first African country to surpass 10 GW of installed solar.
💚 The Philippines has become the world's biggest buyer of solar panels since the outbreak of the Iran conflict, as soaring electricity prices drove households and businesses to install rooftop solar at record speed.
💚 Worldwide, a record 664 GW of new solar PV capacity was added in 2025, an all-time record.

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