Satellite data tracks US solar surge ahead of tax credit deadlines, as Egypt brings major solar and storage plants online

London, 10 November 2026: The US added 10 gigawatts (GW) of detected solar capacity in the third quarter of 2026, its largest quarterly addition this year and the most of any country outside China, according to new satellite data released by TransitionZero.

The findings, drawn from the Q3 2026 update of the Solar Asset Mapper (TZ-SAM), match industry reports of a utility-scale surge as developers build out safe-harboured project pipelines ahead of federal tax credit deadlines. Wood Mackenzie and the Solar Energy Industries Association report that US utility-scale installations reached 9.6 GW in Q2 2026, up 61% year on year.

Global growth picked up after a slower second quarter. TZ-SAM tracks 111,619 solar facilities across 195 countries and territories, with global detected capacity reaching 1,443 GW, a 60 GW (4.4%) increase on the previous quarter, up from 52 GW in Q2. China's detected additions recovered to 23 GW from 16 GW, in line with official figures showing a pickup in Chinese installations over the summer. India's growth slowed for a second consecutive quarter, with 7 GW of detected additions.

Built using planetary-scale machine learning applied to satellite imagery, TZ-SAM captures utility-scale installations that often appear in satellite data ahead of official reporting.

Egypt adds solar and storage at scale

Detected capacity in Egypt grew 10.4% to 3.4 GW, up 30% since the end of 2025, the fastest growth among Africa's three largest markets.

Most of that growth comes from a single new detection: 276 MW of solar capacity at the site of AMEA Power's Abydos 2 project in Aswan Governorate. When complete, Abydos 2 will pair 1 GW of solar with 600 MWh of battery storage. It began trial operations in early September and is coming online in phases.

The data also shows how satellite detection can run ahead of official milestones. TZ-SAM first saw the 561 MW first phase of Scatec's 1.1 GW Obelisk plant near Nag Hammadi as built in September 2025, nearly five months before it began commercial operation. Obelisk's second phase came online on 12 August, the same day Egypt met a record peak electricity demand of 40.2 GW.

The buildout comes as Egypt leans heavily on imported fuel. The country's liquefied natural gas imports more than doubled year on year in the first seven months of 2026, as the Iran crisis disrupted supply through the Strait of Hormuz.

Joe O'Connor, Head of Machine Learning at TransitionZero, said:

"Policy is moving fast in the world's major solar markets, and that makes independent, asset-level data more useful. This quarter we can see the US build out its safe-harboured pipeline and Egypt bring new solar and storage plants online during a summer of record demand. Satellite detection gives analysts, planners, and investors a consistent view of where solar is actually being built, independent of official reporting."

Q3 2026: key findings

• 1,443 GW detected globally (+4.4% quarter on quarter; +60 GW)
• 111,619 facilities mapped across 195 countries and territories, with Montserrat recording its first detection
• Around 1,717 additional facilities detected in Q3
• 1,677 km² of additional solar surface area detected, an area larger than Greater London
• The US added 10 GW of detected capacity, reaching 195 GW (+5.4%)
• China's detected additions picked up from 16 GW in Q2 to 23 GW in Q3, reaching 614 GW (+3.8%)
• India added 7 GW, reaching 118 GW (+6.0%), its second consecutive quarter of slowing growth
• Africa was the fastest-growing region for a fourth consecutive quarter, up 7.7% to 20 GW, with Egypt up 10.4% to 3.4 GW and Zambia up 57.8%
• Asia leads with 906 GW of detected capacity. Europe reached 221 GW (+4.5%), narrowly ahead of North America at 218 GW (+5.2%). South America grew 3.4% to 60 GW, and Oceania 2.8% to 19 GW

Access and next release

TZ-SAM data is published retrospectively. TZ-SAM users who download TZ-SAM through this form and opt in to updates have the data delivered directly to their inbox.

The TZ-SAM Q3 2026 dataset is open access under a Creative Commons licence for non-commercial use.

About TransitionZero

TransitionZero is a climate tech non-profit founded in 2021. We develop enterprise-grade software to reduce the time to build clean energy at scale. We pioneer open source and open access tools that give policymakers, planners, investors and developers the decision infrastructure for electricity system modelling.

Scenario Builder, our no-code platform, allows users to rapidly build, analyse and share energy system and electricity grid models without external consultants. Supported by model migration and calibration, end-to-end data processing, in-person training, simulation-ready data and analyst insights, Scenario Builder strengthens in-house capacity and supports resilient, affordable and locally led energy transitions.

Since launching publicly in October 2025, Scenario Builder has expanded to cover 163 countries and supports over 1,000 users from think tanks, government agencies, electricity utilities, grid operators, renewables developers and financial institutions. AMP, our agentic AI within Scenario Builder, helps users calibrate models, build scenarios and analyse results.

TransitionZero is entirely grant-funded by leading climate philanthropies, including Google.org, Sequoia Climate Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies and the European Climate Foundation, among others. For more information, visit our website or contact us.