Solar generation for the first 11 months of 2024 increased by over 26%, while new solar generating capacity added in November was the second-highest monthly total ever reported, according to new data released by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the US Energy Information Administration (EIA).
New solar capacity easily surpassed all other energy sources during the first 11 months of 2024, followed by wind, according to the SUN DAY Campaign, which reviewed the data.
Solar was 81.4% of new capacity during the first 11 months of 2024 and 98.6% in November alone. According to FERC’s latest “Energy Infrastructure Update” report (with data through November 30, 2024), 25,817 megawatts (MW) of new utility-scale solar generation was placed into service in the first 11 months of 2024 – 81.4% of the total.
In November alone, solar added 4,132 MW representing 98.6% of all new capacity added, making it the second-largest monthly expansion, behind only December 2023 when 4,979 MW were added. Moreover, November was the 15th month in a row that solar was the largest source of new utility-scale generating capacity.
Utility-scale solar generating capacity has now reached 125.53 gigawatts (GW) or 9.61% of the total installed capacity by all energy sources. (FERC’s data do not include the capacity of small-scale solar systems that account for roughly 30% of all US solar capacity.)
New wind capacity year-to-date (YTD) accounted for most of the balance through November – 2,804 MW (8.8%). Another 248 MW were provided by hydropower, geothermal, and biomass. Thus, the mix of all renewables accounted for 91.0% of all new capacity additions.
New solar capacity should provide substantially more electricity than the natural gas or nuclear power plants that came online in 2024. In November alone, 72 new “units” of utility-scale (ie, >1 MW) solar were placed into service while 613 units came online YTD. Their combined capacity was almost double that reported for the same period in 2023 (13,829 MW).
Moreover, generating capacity of the new solar facilities was 15 times greater than the capacity additions of natural gas (1,711 MW) and nearly 24 times more than those of nuclear power (1,100 MW).
The new solar capacity should produce more electricity than the nuclear and gas-fired power plants that came online in 2024, notwithstanding that the latter two have significantly higher capacity factors than either solar or wind: nuclear – 93.0%, natural gas – 59.7%, wind – 33.2%, solar – 23.2%.
Adjusting for the differences in capacity factors, the solar added in 2024 YTD should generate almost six times more electricity than the new capacity additions of either nuclear power or natural gas. Electricity to be produced by newly added wind should nearly match that of either new nuclear or gas capacity.
Solar remains the fastest-growing source of US electrical generation. According to EIA’s latest monthly “Electric Power Monthly” report (with data through November 30, 2024), the combination of utility-scale and “estimated” small-scale (e.g., rooftop) solar increased by 26.2% in the first 11 months of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023. This reflects a combination of 31.0% growth by utility-scale solar thermal and PV plus 15.4% growth by small-scale facilities (ie, <1 MW).
No other energy source came close to matching that rate of growth. The second-fastest growing source of electrical generation was wind power, which grew by 7.6%.
By comparison, natural gas and nuclear power expanded by just 3.8% and 0.6%, respectively, while coal-generated electricity shrunk by 4.7%.
Utility-scale solar provided 5.1% of US electrical generation through the end of November, while small-scale solar provided another 2.0%. Combined, that placed solar generation second to that of wind (10.3%) and ahead of hydropower (5.5%), biomass (1.1%), and geothermal (0.3%).
Through the first 11 months of 2024, the mix of all renewables accounted for 24.3% of total US electrical generation – up from 22.9% a year earlier. Moreover, the combination of just solar and wind outproduced coal by 18% and came close to the output of the US’s nuclear power plants.
“Solar and other renewables are facing an uncertain future under a seemingly hostile Trump administration,” noted the SUN DAY Campaign’s executive director Ken Bossong. “But the strong and unceasing growth by solar and wind provides the best argument for their continued support.”
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