Renewable vitality produced greater than one-quarter of U.S. electrical energy in 2025 and was liable for greater than one-third of latest put in producing capability, in keeping with a evaluation of U.S. Vitality Data Administration (EIA) information by the SUN DAY Marketing campaign. SUN DAY expects photo voltaic, wind and battery vitality storage programs so as to add 60% extra electrical energy to the grid this yr than they did in 2025.
A photo voltaic installer stands subsequent to an assembled single-axis photo voltaic tracker row. SOLV Vitality
These findings come from EIA’s newest “Electric Power Monthly” reporting with information by way of the top of 2025. Utility-scale thermal and photovoltaic photo voltaic deployment expanded by 34.5% in 2025, with small-scale PV initiatives rising by 11%. This maintains photo voltaic’s place because the quickest rising supply of latest electrical energy in america.
Mixed, photo voltaic produced slightly below 9.0% of whole U.S. electrical era final yr – up from 6.9% in 2024, and accounts for greater than one-third of renewable vitality capability on the grid. In 2025, utility-scale photo voltaic capability grew by 27.7 GW whereas small-scale photo voltaic grew by 6.27 GW . EIA estimates one other 44.47 GW of large-scale photo voltaic shall be inbuilt 2026.
Wind and photo voltaic mixed had been virtually one-fifth of whole U.S. electrical era, surpassing coal and nuclear energy capability. In 2025, the 2 vitality sources supplied 15.7% extra electrical energy than coal and eight.7% than nuclear energy.
Renewables’ are the second largest supply of electrical energy on the U.S. grid, behind pure fuel, whose electrical output dropped by 3.3% in 2025.
Utility-scale BESS grew by 58.4%, including 15.77 GW of latest capability. EIA expects BESS capability to develop by one other 24.26 GW in 2026.
EIA is predicting that new capability additions by photo voltaic, wind and batteries in 2026 could be 62% greater than these in 2025.
To check, pure fuel capability elevated by 5.7 GW, nuclear energy added 60.3 MW and coal and petroleum capability decreased by 4.4 GW and 559.4 MW, respectively.
“Dramatic development by photo voltaic, wind, and battery storage is the important thing take-away of EIA’s 2025 information,” stated Ken Bossong, the SUN DAY’s govt director. “And if EIA’s projections for 2026 show appropriate, to paraphrase Al Jolson, ‘You ain’t seen nothing but.’”
Information merchandise from the SUN DAY Marketing campaign
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