Solar Can Rise — But Can It Carry the World Alone?
- April 20, 2026
Table of Contents
Solar power has become one of the fastest-growing energy sources in the world. Supporters argue that falling panel prices, rapid installations, and abundant sunlight mean the world can eventually rely on solar for the majority of its electricity needs.
A recent Deutsche Welle report noted that global solar capacity climbed from 228 gigawatts (GW) in 2015 to an estimated 2,919 GW in 2025. Solar was also reported to have reached roughly 10% of global power generation, overtaking nuclear energy at 9%.
Solar’s strongest case lies in economics and speed. Panels can often be installed faster than coal, gas, hydro, or nuclear plants. In sunny markets, solar is among the cheapest forms of new electricity generation. Once installed, sunlight itself is free.
China remains the global leader in solar capacity by a wide margin, adding 315 GW of new solar panels in 2025 alone. The European Union ranks second, with 406 GW of installed solar capacity. Within Europe, Germany leads with 119 GW of installed solar modules, while countries such as Greece, Cyprus, Spain, and Hungary have emerged as strong solar performers. Outside Europe, solar power is also expanding steadily in the United States, India, Japan, Pakistan, and Brazil.
(Also read: Philippines Bolsters Oil Supply Buffer As Global Risks Intensify)
Solar’s Limits
Yet none of the mentioned benefits can remove solar’s central weakness: it is inherently intermittent, producing electricity only during daylight and dropping sharply during cloudy weather or storms. This mismatch with constant demand requires backup systems or storage, increasing system costs and complexity. The International Energy Agency (IEA) notes variability as a key integration challenge for high-renewable grids.
Other limitations of solar energy include:
Hidden costs
The same Deutsche Welle report that highlighted solar’s rapid growth also revealed major system challenges, including the need for expanded electricity grids and significantly larger battery storage to supply power at night. It added that storing solar energy in batteries can raise costs by an additional 2 to 3 euro cents per kilowatt-hour.
In the Philippines, renewable expansion is also reflected in consumer bills. Starting January 2026, the government introduced the Green Energy Auction Allowance (GEA-All) of ₱0.0371/kWh (or ₱5.7 billion annually), a separate charge passed on to users to fund renewable energy development.
Costly grid upgrades
Renewable energy systems depend on strong grids, storage, and interconnections, yet infrastructure progress remains uneven. In Europe, aging transmission networks and weak cross-border links highlight the scale of required upgrades to ensure stability.
In Southeast Asia, the ASEAN Power Grid has advanced slowly, with only about half of the planned links progressing due to regulatory and financial barriers.
In the Philippines, fragmented island grids, reliance on diesel, and limited transmission capacity further complicate renewable integration, making nationwide clean energy deployment more costly and technically challenging.
Competition with agriculture
Solar expansion is increasingly competing with agriculture because utility-scale projects require large, continuous land areas, often using cropland or pasture. A US Department of Agriculture study found that up to 70% of solar farms in rural areas were built on agricultural land. While agrivoltaics offers partial coexistence, research shows that large-scale solar still creates pressure on prime agricultural soils and siting decisions.
In Tarlac, a University of the Philippines Diliman study found that agricultural land declined from 50.19% in 2017 to 47.64% in 2022 as solar farms expanded by 333.3%. Much of the converted area was previously cropland, raising concerns over food production and land-use pressure.
Slow battery deployment
Battery energy storage systems (BESS) are widely viewed as essential for addressing solar power’s intermittency, yet deployment continues to lag behind renewable expansion. The IEA estimates global battery capacity may need to grow sixfold to support renewable-heavy grids.
The Philippines’ rapid solar and wind expansion under DOE’s GEA 4 includes over 9,000 megawatts (MW) of projects, with about 1,100 MW already paired with storage. However, most BESS projects remain early-stage, while operational capacity is still limited. High-cost financing, permitting delays, and reliance on imported technology continue to hinder scale-up.
Material supply and processes
While sunlight is free for the taking, solar technology and BESS heavily rely on critical materials, which introduce new resource constraints. Renewable systems depend on inputs such as lithium, nickel, and other key minerals, all of which are seeing surging demand as clean energy deployment accelerates globally.
Yet supply chains for these resources remain highly concentrated, with extraction and processing dominated by a limited number of countries. This creates new vulnerabilities and strategic bottlenecks.
For the Philippines, this heightens vulnerability, as limited access and rising global competition could make securing these materials more difficult and costly amid accelerating demand.
Fossil Fuel Backstops During Renewable Shortfalls
The April 2025 Iberian Peninsula blackout, which left millions of people in Spain, Portugal, and parts of southern France without electricity, exposed how quickly grid instability can escalate in renewable-heavy systems. At the time of the outage, Spain was generating around 59% of its electricity from solar power, contributing to a rapid voltage surge and cascading system failure across the grid.
In Europe, even as wind and solar reach record shares of electricity generation, fossil gas plants continue to play a balancing role. In 2025, gas generation in the EU rose during periods of lower renewable output, with fossil fuels increasing their share when wind and hydro declined, pushing utilities to rely more on gas to meet demand.
“This abrupt reversal in EU fossil fuel use highlights the challenge facing even modern energy systems when weather patterns impede clean power supplies, and suggests that fossil fuels may stay rooted in global power systems for years more,” wrote Gavin McGuire of Reuters.
The ongoing oil crisis underscores the continued importance of fossil fuels in stabilizing economies during supply shocks. Disruptions linked to the Strait of Hormuz, through which a significant share of global oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) flows, have tightened energy markets and limited short-term alternatives for many countries.
In response, several Asian economies have turned back to fossil fuels, not renewables, to secure an electricity supply amid tight energy conditions. Bangladesh increased coal-fired generation and expanded coal imports to address shortages, while Vietnam reportedly sought additional coal procurement to stabilize supply. Thailand raised output from its largest coal plant to reduce reliance on LNG amid constrained gas availability. South Korea eased restrictions on coal plant operations while continuing to expand nuclear capacity for energy security, and in Japan, utilities maintained high coal utilization to ensure baseload electricity supply.
The Philippines is also temporarily increasing reliance on coal-fired power to offset surging LNG prices and rising electricity costs. With the Japan Korea Marker (JKM) up about 82%, energy officials warned that rates could climb by up to 16% without intervention. The Department of Energy (DOE) plans to boost coal generation while reducing LNG dependence in the short term, supported by assurances of a stable coal supply from Indonesia.
(Also read: Emergency Power Measures To Shield Consumers From Global Oil Shock And Summer Surge)
Grounded Expectations
Figures show remarkable progress in renewable energy, but they do not erase the structural realities of modern power systems.
Solar and wind can grow quickly, yet their intermittency, infrastructure demands, material constraints, and storage gaps mean they cannot fully replace dispatchable power in the short term. Grid instability events and fuel market shocks continue to push countries back toward coal and gas when supply security is at risk.
This is not a rejection of renewables, but a reminder that transition requires balance. Clean energy expansion remains essential, but it must be matched with realistic planning for reliability, affordability, and system resilience.
Sources:
https://www.dw.com/en/solar-is-winning-the-energy-race/a-76517556
https://www.solarpowerworldonline.com/2026/01/how-much-faster-can-solar-be-built-vs-gas-turbines
https://www.iea.org/reports/solar-pv
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2214629623002050
https://context.ph/2025/06/30/doe-clears-battery-storage-projects-for-grid-impact-study/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0973082625002698
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_Iberian_Peninsula_blackout
https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/money/economy/981180/indonesia-ph-coal-supply/story
