Off-grid solar now reaches 149 million people — and it is the cheapest way to power 398 million more

A new report from the World Bank Group and industry association GOGLA counts 149 million people using off-grid solar products in 2025, up 26% in just two years — panels and batteries that power lights, phones, irrigation pumps and shop fridges far from any grid. The report finds off-grid solar is now the cheapest way to bring electricity to at least 398 million of the people still without it, and that 7.4 million people already use it to run small businesses. The sector employs about 219,000 people, many of them local agents and technicians.

SDG 7 · Affordable and clean energy — Mechanism: market force