EIA: Solar smashes records in 2025 — now topping wind, hydro and coal in key months as renewables surge past 26% of U.S. generation

<h2 class="wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size" id="h-new-eia-data-reviewed-by-sun-day-campaign-solar-up-29-in-august-wind-solar-now-19-of-u-s-generation-ytd-while-fossil-and-nuclear-output-stalls">New EIA data reviewed by SUN DAY Campaign: Solar up ~29% in August, wind + solar now 19% of U.S. generation YTD, while fossil and nuclear output stalls</h2>

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<figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img alt="solar panel and light bulb" class="wp-image-28732" height="591" src="https://solarbuildermag.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/solar-panels-light-bulb.jpg" width="1000" /></figure></div>

<p>Solar generated nearly one-tenth of all U.S. electricity in August — up from 7.6% a year ago — according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s latest <a href="https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/">Electric Power Monthly</a> (data through Aug. 31), reviewed by the SUN DAY Campaign.</p>

<p><a href="https://solarbuildermag.com/tag/utility-scale/">Utility-scale PV</a> jumped 29.5% year-over-year in August and small-scale PV climbed 10.8%, combining for 24.7% growth month-over-month and nearly 9.5% of all U.S. electricity that month.</p>

<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-solar-now-beats-hydro-and-often-wind">Solar now beats hydro — and often wind</h3>

<p>Through the first eight months of 2025:</p>

<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Solar YTD is up 28.8% and now accounts for 8.9% of total U.S. electricity</li>

<li>Solar output is now 58% higher than hydropower, and in August produced more than double U.S. hydropower</li>

<li>In both August and YTD, solar exceeded the combined output of hydro + biomass + geothermal</li>

<li>Utility-scale solar out-generated wind for the second straight month — by 4% in July and 15% in August</li>

<li>Including small-scale systems, solar has out-produced wind four months running and by almost 50% in August</li>
</ul>

<h3 class="wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size" id="h-renewables-overall-now-exceed-26-of-u-s-generation">Renewables overall now exceed 26% of U.S. generation</h3>

<p>Wind still posted modest gains: 10.2% of U.S. electricity YTD, up 2.6% year-over-year. Combined, wind + solar delivered 19.1% of U.S. generation in the first eight months of 2025 — more than coal and more than nuclear over the same period. Nuclear generation slipped 0.7%.</p>

<p>When including hydropower, biomass and geothermal, renewables supplied 26.1% of total U.S. electricity from January through August — second only to natural gas. Natural gas output declined 4.1% during the same period.</p>

<h3 class="wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size" id="h-capacity-growth-is-even-more-lopsided">Capacity growth is even more lopsided</h3>

<p>Between Sept. 2024 and Aug. 2025:</p>

<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Utility-scale solar added 31.7 GW; small-scale solar added 5.7 GW</li>

<li>Battery storage grew 63.9%, adding 13.4 GW — now 50% larger than all U.S. pumped hydro storage</li>

<li>Wind added 4.8 GW</li>
</ul>

<p>Planned additions over the next 12 months:</p>

<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>34.3 GW utility-scale solar</li>

<li>20.2 GW battery storage</li>

<li>9.7 GW wind</li>
</ul>

<p>Meanwhile:</p>

<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Gas capacity rose just 3.3 GW</li>

<li>Nuclear added 46 MW</li>

<li>Coal capacity fell 4.2 GW</li>

<li>Petroleum fell 0.7 GW</li>
</ul>

<p>Net result: Renewables + storage ballooned 55.4 GW in the past year, while fossil + nuclear capacity shrank 1.5 GW.</p>

<p>“The Trump Administration and its Republican supporters in Congress may slow renewable energy growth a bit … but EIA’s data reinforce the conclusion that the transition to solar, wind, other renewables and storage continues, is accelerating, and has become inevitable,” Ken Bossong, Executive Director, SUN DAY Campaign.</p>
<p>-- Solar Builder magazine</p>