Scaling Solar Capacity Is No Longer Enough—Performance Is the New Battleground

The global solar industry crossed a major milestone in 2024, surpassing 2 terawatts of installed photovoltaic (PV) capacity worldwide. Yet as deployment accelerates, a more complex challenge is emerging: ensuring that installed assets perform as modeled over their operational life. This tension between scale and performance is the central theme of the Global Solar Report: 2025 Edition – The State of PV Performance, published by Raptor Maps.

Drawing on performance data from 193 GWdc of utility-scale and commercial & industrial (C&I) solar assets globally—including 67 GWdc analyzed in 2024 alone—the report highlights a sobering reality. Equipment-driven underperformance is rising steadily, translating into tangible financial losses for asset owners. According to Raptor Maps’ analysis, the average solar asset in 2024 experienced annualized revenue losses of approximately USD 5,720 per MWdc due to unresolved DC health and equipment issues. Scaled across the global fleet, this represents a potential USD 10 billion annual revenue gap.

What is particularly striking is the concentration of impact. While high-priority defects accounted for roughly 42% of identified issues, they were responsible for nearly 90% of observed revenue loss. Inverter faults, string and combiner anomalies, and malfunctioning trackers remain the dominant drivers of power loss, even as module-level issues—such as cracking and physical damage—are increasing, especially in weather-exposed regions.

The report also underscores structural pressures facing the industry. Operational labor growth is lagging far behind capacity additions, while climate-driven extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and severe. These dynamics are pushing operations and maintenance (O&M) teams toward a breaking point, particularly as average site sizes continue to grow.

In response, asset owners are increasingly adopting performance intelligence, automation, and robotics. Raptor Maps documents a sharp rise in the use of aerial inspections, remotely operated drones, and data-driven prioritization to reduce unnecessary truck rolls and focus limited resources on high-impact interventions. Inspections per site increased by nearly 70% year-on-year in 2024, reflecting a shift from reactive maintenance to preventative, intelligence-led operations.

The key takeaway from the Raptor Maps Global Solar Report 2025 is clear: the next phase of solar’s evolution will be defined not just by how fast capacity is added, but by how effectively performance risk is managed. In an era of tighter margins and rising climate exposure, operational excellence is becoming as critical as project development itself.