United States To Be Adding Thirty-Three Gigawatts Of Solar Capacity

In a historic milestone for the U.S. energy sector, the United States is set to add record levels—33 gigawatts of capacity—of solar panels in 2025, according to a new report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). In fact, half of all announced new electricity generation capacity for 2025 is solar.

The EIA, which is based on a survey of developers, expects utility-scale solar installations to reach an all-time high this year. And for the first time, new battery storage systems—important for storing energy from solar plants and other sources—are also expected to reach a new annual high in 2025.

Texas Takes Lead in National Solar Growth

There has been a change in the geographic center of solar development in the U.S.. Texas surpassed California as the state with the most utility-scale solar capacity added last year.

In the last few months of 2025, Texas has accounted for more than a quarter of all solar capacity added and has plans to add another 9.7 GW in that time period. This could be almost 50% of all solar development planned in the U.S., during this period.

Texas is now a leader in solar development because of its sunny weather, and huge amount of potential land but is also seeing unprecedented demand growth in electricity consumption from power hungry industries like technology and manufacturing.

Increased Energy Diversity

While solar power is expected to be the predominant source of installed planned capacity, other energy sources are also playing a part in the new capacity expansion:

• Wind energy and natural gas are expected to take up the majority of the remaining new generation capacity.
• The battery storage industry is on a similar growth curve, which is critical to balancing the variability of renewable sources.

If all 64 GW of future planned new generation capacity is built, 2025 will represent a new milestone for additions of power capacity in the U.S. overtaking the previous level of new capacity additions of 58 GW in 2002.

Uncertainty over policy

While the solar sector is poised for a historic growth, it has much headwind ahead. The report cites that many federal financial incentives that have fueled the growth of the solar sector in recent years are not expected to continue under the Trump Administration, which creates uncertainty over the direction of the technology.

This change in policy has already created worry for the level of executives in the industry because they have warned that reducing support for renewable energy would likely result in higher electricity prices for consumers and put pressure on grids that are already struggling to meet the significantly growing demand, especially from data centers on which artificial intelligence systems are dependent.

On August 16, the Internal Revenue Service revoked and rolled out guidance on clean energy tax credit eligibility. Residential solar systems will no longer follow the prior guidelines to access the tax credits, but all larger scale corporate projects must meet the “physical work” standards, exempting the previous four year development period.

National Significance

Solar energy, which generates no greenhouse gas emissions, has emerged as a linchpin of state decarbonization efforts across the nation, and provides resources for the unprecedented electricity demands from massive technology companies and new and expanding industries.

If solar and wind energy continue to grow, this will signify the fastest segment of the energy landscape in the U.S., as increasing amounts of low-cost clean energy are achieved. However, changes in the policy environment may influence full uptake of renewable energy over the coming years.

With the AI revolution causing previous electricity demands that never seemed possible and retiring conventional generation, the development of solar capacity is becoming ever increasingly important for ensuring grid reliability and supporting the ever-changing needs of energy demand in America.