Adoption Curves: How Fast Solar and Wind Grew After Passing 1%

How long does it take a fuel to grow from a footnote to a major source? These pages line countries up by the year solar or wind first reached 1% of generation, then count the years to 5%, 10% and 20%. Solar: 27 of 54 countries reached 10%, from 2 years (Vietnam) to 13 years (Slovenia) after 1%. Wind: 24 of 50 countries reached 10%, from 1 year (Kenya) to 18 years (the Netherlands) after 1%. The median country took 9 years to go from 1% to 10% solar (27 countries) against 9 years for wind (24 countries). Data as of 2025, Ember annual statistics.

Key Facts

54 countries generating at least 10 TWh passed 1% solar and have at least 5 years of data since, to 2025.
Hungary had the highest solar share in its latest year, 27.1% in 2025; it passed 1% in 2017.
Pakistan took 6 years from 1% to 20% solar, Spain 15 years; 6 countries have reached 20%.
50 countries generating at least 10 TWh passed 1% wind and have at least 5 years of data since, to 2025.
Uruguay had the highest wind share in its latest year, 40.5% in 2025; it passed 1% in 2011.
Uruguay took 5 years from 1% to 20% wind, the Netherlands 21 years; 11 countries have reached 20%.

Adoption Curves by Fuel

Ember, to 2025

Solar adoption curves

Solar: 27 of 54 countries reached 10%, from 2 years (Vietnam) to 13 years (Slovenia) after 1%.

Countries past 1%: 54
Highest share now: 27.1%; 🇭🇺 Hungary
Median years, 1% to 10%: 9 years

See every country's solar curve

Wind adoption curves

Wind: 24 of 50 countries reached 10%, from 1 year (Kenya) to 18 years (the Netherlands) after 1%.

Countries past 1%: 50
Highest share now: 40.5%; 🇺🇾 Uruguay
Median years, 1% to 10%: 9 years

See every country's wind curve

Solar and Wind Compared

Countries at or above 10 TWh

For each fuel: countries that passed 1%, how many reached 5%, 10% and 20%, and the fastest and slowest to 10%
Fuel	Passed 1%	Reached 5%	Reached 10%	Reached 20%	Fastest to 10%	Slowest to 10%
Solar	54	42	27	6	🇻🇳 Vietnam, 2 years	🇸🇮 Slovenia, 13 years
Wind	50	37	24	11	🇰🇪 Kenya, 1 year	🇳🇱 Netherlands, 18 years

A country counts when it generated at least 10 TWh in its latest year, its series began below 1%, and it has at least 5 years of data after first reaching 1%. Years are counted from the year each country first reached 1%.

Source: Ember (ember-energy.org), licensed under CC BY 4.0. Data as of 2025. Annual statistics from Ember; each country is measured to its own latest year.

Cite this page

APA 7

World Power Monitor. (2025). Technology Adoption Curves: Solar and Wind After 1%. https://worldpowermonitor.com/adoption/

Plain text

World Power Monitor. Technology Adoption Curves: Solar and Wind After 1%. Data as of 2025. Data from Ember. https://worldpowermonitor.com/adoption/

BibTeX

@misc{wpm_adoption_2025,
  title = {{Technology Adoption Curves: Solar and Wind After 1\%}},
  author = {{World Power Monitor}},
  year = {2025},
  note = {Data as of 2025. Data from Ember.},
  url = {https://worldpowermonitor.com/adoption/}
}

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