Solar Asset Mapper Q1 2025 data release

It’s our mission to support the energy transition with accessible, reliable data and software. This release of TZ-SAM is the third to use our enhanced detection and validation methodology, and our second quarterly rollout — a significant shift in the pace at which we can deliver fresh global data. TZ-SAM offers a clear and consistent view of commercial- and utility-scale solar deployment — helping policymakers, analysts and researchers track one of energy’s biggest stories.

What is Solar Asset Mapper?

Solar deployment continues to accelerate — and keeping track is no small feat. That’s where TZ-SAM comes in: a global, asset-level solar dataset built using planetary-scale machine learning. Our latest release captures commercial- and utility-scale solar installations through to the end of Q1 2025, offering our most up-to-date view of solar’s rapid global expansion.

Learn more about TZ-SAM’s origins in our Explainer, and improvements to its underlying detection algorithms in our Q3 2024 Update.

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What's in this update?

Today, TZ-SAM tracks over 102,000 solar facilities across 200 countries, a 9.3% increase from the Q4 2024 release. The dataset includes location, capacity, size and estimated construction dates for installations with a capacity >= 1 MW.

Nearly 9,000 solar assets, covering 3,201 square kilometres have been added to the dataset in this release. That’s enough solar plants to cover the area of Greater London twice, with a total estimated GW capacity more than five times larger than China’s Five Gorges Dam - the world’s largest power station by installed capacity.

Here’s the state of global solar deployment at the end of the first quarter of 2025, according to TZ-SAM.

Global trends

One great advantage of consistent and regularly updated quarterly data is the ease with which we can track trends at the country-level. Let’s zoom in!

The leaderboard remains largely the same this quarter, with the only change being Türkiye edging out Italy for the #8 spot.

Once again, China leads, with 74 GW of new capacity detected, more than twice the growth rate recorded between Q3 and Q4 2024.

By tracking both the number of utility-scale assets and the estimated capacity of those assets, TZ-SAM data can show how macroeconomic trends and policy decisions impact solar deployments and the broader energy transition.

Solar Asset Explorer upgrades

The Solar Asset Explorer is an interactive web interface for exploring TZ-SAM data. Our latest version transforms the experience from a resource-intensive prototype into a smooth, responsive application.

Explorer now offers faster loading, clickable polygons with key asset details, smarter rendering across zoom levels, and the raw satellite imagery behind the detections.

You can check out the new TZ-SAM Explorer now, or discover how we built it in this deep-dive blog post.

When is the next quarterly release?

TZ-SAM data is published retrospectively, with data for the preceding quarter delivered in the current quarter.

TZ-SAM users who download TZ-SAM through this form and tick the box opting-in for quarterly release updates have the data delivered directly to their inbox.

What’s next?

Commercial licensing of the TZ-SAM dataset is now available for select partners. If you are interested in discussing how we can license TZ-SAM data to support your business, please contact us using this form, and our team will be in touch. We are also continuing to expand our work on rooftop solar in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, and Pakistan with the TZ-RAM project. More details to come soon!

The TZ-SAM Q1 2025 dataset is open-access under a Creative Commons license for non-commercial use. Download it now, and register for quarterly updates.

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