Credit score: Vesper Vitality
A assessment by the SUN DAY Marketing campaign of data just released by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) reveals that the mixture of photo voltaic and wind accounted for 88% of latest U.S. electrical producing capability added within the first eight months of 2025. In August, photo voltaic alone offered two-thirds of the brand new capability, marking two consecutive years through which photo voltaic has held the lead each month amongst all power sources. Photo voltaic and wind every added extra new capability than did pure gasoline. Inside three years, the combination of all renewables might prime 40% of put in capability.
Photo voltaic was two-thirds of latest producing capability in August and 73% year-to-date
In its newest month-to-month “Vitality Infrastructure Replace” report (with knowledge via August 31, 2025), FERC says 48 “models” of photo voltaic totaling 2,702 MW had been positioned into service in August, accounting for two-thirds (66.4%) of all new producing capability added throughout the month. That represents the second-largest month-to-month capability enhance by photo voltaic in 2025 — behind solely January when 2,945 MW was added.
The latest services embrace the 517.3-MW Outpost Photo voltaic & Storage Challenge in Webb County, TX; the 280.0-MW Gibson Photo voltaic Challenge in Gibson County, IN; the 254.0-MW Ridgely Vitality Farm in Lake County, TN; the 204.0-MW Luna Valley Photo voltaic Challenge in Fresno County, CA; and the 200.0-MW Flat Fork Photo voltaic Challenge in Monroe County, AR.
The 505 models of utility-scale (i.e., >1-MW) photo voltaic added throughout the first eight months of 2025 whole 19,093 MW and had been virtually three-quarters (73.4%) of the full new capability positioned into service by all sources.
Photo voltaic has now been the biggest supply of latest producing capability added every month for 2 years straight: September 2023-August 2025. Throughout that interval, whole utility-scale photo voltaic capability grew from 91.82 GW to 156.20 GW. No different power supply added something near that quantity of latest capability. Wind, for instance, expanded by 11.16 GW whereas pure gasoline’ web enhance was simply 4.36 GW.
Renewables had been 88% of latest capability added year-to-date
For the primary eight months of 2025, the mixture of photo voltaic and wind (plus 4 MW of hydropower and three MW of biomass) was 88.0% of latest capability whereas pure gasoline offered simply 11.9%. The stability of web capability additions got here from oil (20 MW) and waste warmth (17 MW).
Photo voltaic + wind are virtually 1 / 4 of U.S. utility-scale producing capability; all renewables mixed are over a 3rd
Utility-scale photo voltaic’s share of whole put in capability (11.62%) is now virtually equal to that of wind (11.82%). If current progress charges proceed, utility-scale photo voltaic capability ought to equal and possibly surpass that of wind within the subsequent “Vitality Infrastructure Replace” report printed by FERC.
Taken collectively, wind and photo voltaic represent almost one-fourth (23.44%) of the U.S.’s whole obtainable put in utility-scale producing capability.
Furthermore, virtually 29% of U.S. photo voltaic capability is within the type of small-scale (e.g., rooftop) systems that are not reflected in FERC’s data. Together with that extra photo voltaic capability would convey the share offered by photo voltaic + wind to greater than 1 / 4 of the nation’s whole.
With the inclusion of hydropower (7.59%), biomass (1.06%) and geothermal (0.31%), renewables presently declare a 32.4% share of whole U.S. utility-scale producing capability. If small-scale photo voltaic capability is included, renewables are actually greater than one-third of whole U.S. producing capability.
Photo voltaic continues to be on monitor to turn out to be the second largest supply of U.S. producing capability
FERC studies that web “excessive likelihood” web additions of photo voltaic between September 2025 and August 2028 whole 89,953 MW — an quantity virtually 4 instances the forecast web “excessive likelihood” additions for wind (23,223 MW), the second-fastest rising useful resource.
FERC additionally foresees web progress for hydropower (566 MW) and geothermal (92 MW) however a lower of 126 MW in biomass capability.
In the meantime, pure gasoline capability would broaden by 8,481 MW and nuclear energy would add simply 335 MW, whereas coal and oil are projected to contract by 23,564 MW and 1,581 MW respectively.
Taken collectively, the web new “excessive likelihood” web capability additions by all renewable power sources over the following three years – i.e., the Trump Administration’s remaining time in workplace — would whole 113,708 MW. However, the put in capability of fossil fuels and nuclear energy mixed would shrink by 16,329 MW.
Ought to FERC’s three-year forecast materialize, by early-fall 2028, utility-scale photo voltaic would account for 17.1% of put in U.S. producing capability — greater than another supply apart from pure gasoline (40%). Additional, the capability of the combination of all utility-scale renewable power sources would exceed 38%. Inclusion of small-scale photo voltaic — assuming it retains its 29% share of all photo voltaic — may push renewables’ share to over 41% whereas that of pure gasoline would drop to about 38%.
“However impediments created by the Trump Administration and the Republican-controlled Congress, photo voltaic and wind proceed so as to add extra producing capability than fossil fuels and nuclear energy,” famous the SUN DAY Marketing campaign’s government director Ken Bossong. “And FERC foresees renewable power’s function increasing within the subsequent three years whereas the shares offered by coal, oil, pure gasoline, and nuclear all contract.”
Information merchandise from the SUN DAY Marketing campaign
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