Renewable energy, especially solar and wind, gets lots of attention, yet it still a tiny part of total power generation worldwide.
Large-scale solar PV grew a startling 40% in 2014, from 21.7 to 35.9 GW, an increase of 14.2 GW in just one year. The US has the most capacity at 9.3 GW, followed by China at 8.5. While this is certainly impressive growth, solar PV is still, globally speaking, a minor player.
In 2012, worldwide installed electricity was 5549 GW, the last year the US Energy Information Agency has data for. Thus, 35 GW is 0.06 of that total, less than 1%. The real percentage would be even smaller than that, since installed electrical has increased since 2012.
The World Coal Association, certainly not an unbiased source, says 41% of world power is generated from coal with the US at 45%.
California is a leader is renewable energy. This image, which is updated daily (PDF), shows how renewables in California are still a relatively small part of the mix. Renewable energy spikes during the day due to solar, then quickly drops off. ‘Imports’ is power coming in from other states. ‘Thermal’ is power from something being burned, specifically coal and natural gas. So, at the daylight peak, renewable energy in California is about 22% of total energy generated. This is impressive (and growing). However most other states (and  countries) lag way behind this. this.
