U.S. solar capacity nears 300 GW, enough to power 50 million homes

Solar power in the U.S. has reached a new scale: the country now has 299.4 gigawatts of installed solar capacity, enough to supply electricity equivalent to more than 50 million households, according to a new industry report from the Solar Energy Industries Association and Wood Mackenzie. Solar now provides nearly 9% of all U.S. electricity, up sharply from a decade ago. Most of this growth is happening at the utility scale, with large solar farms rather than home rooftop systems driving the numbers.

That utility-scale surge picked up speed ahead of a July 2026 deadline for developers to qualify projects for federal tax credits, pushing second-quarter installations up 45% from a year earlier. Meanwhile, the residential solar market has cooled somewhat since federal tax credits for home systems expired, even as the overall industry keeps expanding. Growth has concentrated heavily in states that voted for Trump in 2024, which accounted for most of the new capacity added this year. California and Texas remain the two largest solar states by total capacity, followed by Florida, Arizona and North Carolina.

For homeowners, this mostly reflects big-picture trends in how the grid is changing rather than a direct new incentive for your own house. If you're considering solar or another energy upgrade, it's worth checking what state and local incentives are currently available, since federal residential credits have wound down and support now varies more by location. Forecasters expect the overall U.S. solar market to nearly double over the next five years.