This is how the rise of clean energy from the universe looks like

The constellations of satellites 250 miles above the surface of the Earth show how the sun and wind have taken off in recent years.

A new analysis shared with The New York Times shows that countries around the world are rapidly adding solar and wind capacity.

To track these changes, researchers created a global renewable energy watch that maps all onshore winds and all large solar farms around the world by creating “living atlas” using artificial intelligence and detailed satellite images.

The collaboration between Nature Conservancy, Planet, and Microsoft's AI for Good Lab is designed to track wind and solar diffusion over the long term, allowing planners to better understand where and how to build new clean energy projects, big and small.

It is important to choose the right location as the electric grid cannot always handle new energy sources or carry electricity from sunny, windy areas to where they need it. When open lands are limited, energy projects often include trade-offs for farmland and natural habitats. And in many cases, many of the best spots have already been photographed.

“Many developments grabbed hanging fruit,” said Joseph Keesecker, the lead scientist at Nature Conservancy, who has been contributing to global renewable energy clocks since work began two years ago.

This data provides snapshots of existing clean energy capacity and locations where there is room for growth in all countries. (Rooftop solar is not included.)

China leads the world of installed solar and wind capacity by growing margins. The pace is rapidly increasing, with vast projects marching across the country. However, coal and gas use is still rising in China and many other developing countries.

In the US, the power from the solar and wind combination surpassed coal for the first time last year. Solar alone accounts for more than 80% of the new capacity added in 2024, with a third of it installed in Texas. In California, the addition of utility-scale battery storage helped to extend solar power after darkness and stabilize nearby grids.

In the European Union, the sun and wind produced almost a third of the local electricity, more than all fossil fuels combined. The fussing coast of Northern Europe is suitable for wind power generation, which accounted for almost 60% of Denmark's electricity in 2024.

“The costs of solar panels have been declining very dramatically over the past decade,” said Dave Jones, director of global insights at the Energy Research Institute Ember. Combined with high gas prices since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, “it becomes a truly compelling business case for installing large quantities of solar power.”

These low prices are largely due to the enormous manufacturing advances in China, supplying about 80% of the international market for solar panels. After the Netherlands, the top importers of Chinese panels last year were Brazil, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and India.

Improved battery technology is another factor in the spread of solar. Cheaper and better storage allows people to move their homes after the sun has set, cooking, washing, or watching TV.

While wind projects face growing obstacles, solar has emerged as a more viable option for adding capacity quickly, cheaply and at almost any scale.

The ambitious plan to stop the addition of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere by 2050, and the government's influx of money added enough sunlight to the Australian grid, and the sun now generates the country's electricity. In Brazil, major investments in solar and wind helped offset the vast hydroelectric system fluctuations caused by drought.

In many emerging economies such as Mexico, Türkiye and Vietnam, solar energy is expanding faster than wind farms.

The Global Renewables Watch illustrates utility-sized solar projects rather than small-scale solar found in many developing countries looking to expand access to electricity. For example, Pakistan was the third largest importer of China's solar panels last year, but people installed almost all of them near roofs and local farms and factories to avoid high power charges and power outages.

Recent growth in solar and wind energy does not mean that renewables are inevitable. Somalia's solar power generation has, for example, gone from zero to 17% over the past decade, but Power Africa, the USAID program that supported its growth, was largely dismantled by the Trump administration last month. Vietnam's development accelerated after the government assured solar power developers that they would pay premium prices, but proposals to retroactively end the policy are now threatening the investment of billions of people. And in the US, the Trump administration is working to promote fossil fuels and slow the transition to renewables.

The world's dependence on fossil fuels continues to grow, and global temperatures continue to rise. According to the International Renewable Energy Agency, the amount of renewable projects added each year should be doubled to achieve its most ambitious targets under the Paris Climate Agreement.

Researchers say they hope that making data and models available to the public will help improve planning and installation of their new capabilities. “We hope that renewable energy will be built,” Dr. Kiesecker said. “I want to see the transition happen as soon as possible.”