In 2017, solar energy played almost no part in Viet Nam's energy strategy. However, by the end of 2019, Viet Nam surpassed Malaysia and Thailand to reach the largest installed capacity of solar panels in Southeast Asia.

According to state-owned Viet Nam Electricity (EVN), as of 2021, Viet Nam was among the top 10 countries with the highest solar power capacity at 16,504 MW, accounting for 2.3 percent worldwide.

Viet Nam has been a Southeast Asia solar success story. It went from having barely any generation in 2018 to a quarter of its total installed capacity being solar – a 100-fold increase in two years.

This rapid growth is mainly down to the Vietnamese Government's feed-in tariff which provides a guaranteed above-market price for renewable energy producers; other incentives signed off in 2017 in an attempt to pivot away from lagging fossil fuel projects; and cheaper solar panels, some of which are assembled domestically.