The USA has achieved an incredible clean energy milestone which is a total of dynamic solar energy capacity of 299.4 GWdc which makes it sufficient for meeting the energy requirements of more than 50 million homes. This information has been revealed in the US Solar Market Insight report published by Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and Wood Mackenzie.
A Record-Breaking Quarter
This achievement was driven mainly by the outstanding Q2 of 2026 when the United States solar industry added 11.4 GWdc of new capacity which equates to 43% jump compared to the Q1 of 2026 and 45% increase year-over-year. The vast majority of new capacity-9.6 GWdc-was a result of utility-scale installations which grew by 61% year-over-year. The growth was primarily caused by energizing projects before the deadline set for by federal tax credits in July 2026. The share of solar and storage technologies in total increase of new electrical capacity on the U.S. energy market was about 70%.
Market Structure and Geographic Shift
The expansion of US solar energy is more and more focused on states led by Republicans. The states where Trump has won in the last elections have contributed to 57% of the entire capacity and 71% of the newly created solar capacity in the first half of 2026. Eight out of ten leaders in new addition capacity are states ruled by Republicans and this phenomenon is connected with faster project readiness in key southern market areas. The leading state in total capacity in the second quarter of 2026 is Texas with 3.44 GW and the states with the following positions are Arizona with 1.76 GW and Florida that has 1.61 GW. The states with the highest capacity are California and Texas with 56,457 MW and 55,125 MW of capacity respectively.
Manufacturing Reshoring Gains Momentum
Alongside deployment growth, domestic clean energy manufacturing has scaled significantly. More than $18 billion has been invested in U.S. solar factory construction, expanding active facilities across 43 states. Operational module manufacturing capacity has reached 75.3 GW, with an additional 14.4 GW under construction; domestic solar cell manufacturing stands at 10.6 GW operational with 19.1 GW being built. First Solar remains the largest domestic manufacturer with approximately 10.6 GW of production capacity, followed by Hanwha Qcells at 8.4 GW/yr and Canadian Solar at 5 GW/yr. Tesla has proposed a $10.1 billion solar manufacturing facility in Texas, targeting commercial operations by Q1 2029.
Headwinds and Policy Uncertainty
Although there was a breakthrough in the solar industry, it has to deal with major problems. For instance, the number of solar panels used in residential settings dropped by 12% compared to the previous year's quarter II, reaching the number of 995 MWdc. The decrease has been observed during the adjustment period to the cessation of the Section 25D residential tax credit in late 2025. Nonetheless, growth is expected in the residential market in 2027. A number of factors, particularly the delay of permits, and connecting installations to the grid will still limit further development of solar technology. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, solar energy generation is projected to rise by 21% in 2026 and 18% in 2027. In 2026, solar energy will produce 8% of the total domestic generating capacity, while in 2027 the figure will rise to 9%.
Long-Term Outlook
However, the long-term outlook is very bright. Wood Mackenzie expects that the growth of the domestic solar power market over the next five years will lead to an increase of the solar fleet by times. By 2035, the United States anticipates a total of 737.8 GW of solar capacity and an increase in solar installations by approximately 50 GW per year starting from 2034. The number of projects that are waiting to be connected to the grid has reached 750 GW as of Q2 2026, which is the highest number ever registered in SEIA's files and significantly above the installed capacity. According to the SEIA President Tim Pawlenty, "Solar and storage technologies have become so widespread that Americans are not fully aware of their scope, and we cannot solve the problems without these two technologies."
