Solar electrical generation in the United States continues to set records, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).
EIA’s latest monthly “Electric Power Monthly” report (with data through August 31, 2025) shows that utility-scale solar generation in August increased nearly 30% from August 2024, while rooftop solar increased 10.8%. Combined, they provided 9.5% of the nation’s electrical output during August, up from 7.6% one year ago.
Orange Grove Solar project in Jim Wells County, Texas.
The SUN DAY Campaign reviewed the EIA data and found that solar-generated electricity year-to-date (YTD) easily surpassed — by over 58% — the output of the nation’s hydropower plants (5.6% of total generation). In August alone, solar-generated electricity more than doubled the output of the nation’s hydropower plants. In fact, in both August and YTD, solar produced more electricity than hydropower, biomass and geothermal combined.
Moreover, for the second consecutive month, utility-scale solar generated more electricity than the nation’s wind farms — by 4% in July and by 15% in August. Including small-scale systems, solar has out-produced wind four months in a row and by almost 50% during August.
During the first eight months of 2025, electrical generation by wind and all solar provided almost one-fifth (19.1%) of the U.S. total, up from 17.2% during the first two-thirds of 2024. The combination of wind and solar provided 16.2% more electricity than did coal during the first eight months of this year, and 11.7% more than the nation’s nuclear power plants. In fact, as solar and wind expanded, nuclear-generated electricity dropped by 0.7%.
The mix of all renewables produced 9% more electricity in January-August than they did a year ago and provided (26.1%) of total U.S. electricity production compared to 24.5% twelve months earlier. Renewables’ share of electrical generation is now second to only that of natural gas whose electrical output actually dropped by almost 4.1% during the first eight months of 2025.
Strong growth was also experienced by battery storage which grew by 63.9% during the past year and added 13,377.5 MW of new capacity. In the course of the past year, battery storage actually surpassed pumped hydro storage (PHS) — in October 2024 — and now accounts for 50% more storage capacity than PHS. EIA also notes that planned battery capacity additions during the next year total 20,179.8 MW.
On the other hand, natural gas capacity increased by only 3,337.7 MW and nuclear power added a mere 46.0 MW. Meanwhile, coal capacity plummeted by 4,185.1 MW and petroleum-based capacity fell by an additional 658.7 MW.
Thus, during the past year, renewable energy capacity, including battery storage and small-scale solar, ballooned by 55,419.6 MW while that of all fossil fuels and nuclear power combined actually declined by 1,486.3 MW.
“The Trump Administration and its Republican supporters in Congress may slow renewable energy growth a bit,” noted the SUN DAY Campaign’s executive director Ken Bossong. “However, EIA’s data reinforce the conclusion that the transition to solar, wind, other renewables and storage continues, is accelerating, and has become inevitable.”
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