HIGHLIGHTS
- THE MIX OF ALL RENEWABLES INCREASED BY 9.6% AND PROVIDED 24.2% OF U.S. ELECTRICAL GENERATION
- UTILITY-SCALE SOLAR EXPANDED 32.0%, REMAINING THE FASTEST GROWING SOURCE OF ELECTRICY
- THE OUTPUT BY WIND + SOLAR WAS GREATER THAN COAL AND NEARLY MATCHED NUCLEAR POWER WHILE SOLAR AND WIND EACH EXCEEDED HYDROPOWER
A review by the SUN DAY Campaign of data just released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) confirms that throughout 2024, solar remained the nation's fastest growing source of electricity as the mix of all renewables increased their output by almost 10% and provided almost a quarter of the total.
Key Year-to-Date (YTD) Trends for Solar:
In its latest monthly "Electric Power Monthly" report (with data through December 31, 2024), EIA says the combination of utility-scale and "estimated" small-scale (e.g., rooftop) solar increased by 26.9% in 2024 compared to the same period in 2023.
Utility-scale solar thermal and photovoltaic expanded by 32.0% while small-scale solar PV increased by 15.3%. Together, solar was nearly 7.0% (6.91%) of total U.S. electrical generation for the year.
In December alone, electrical generation by utility-scale solar expanded by 42.0% compared to December 2023.
Small-scale solar (i.e., systems <1-MW) accounted for 27.9% of all solar generation and provided 1.9% of U.S. electricity supply in 2024.[1]
In fact, small-scale solar PV is now generating nearly twice as much electricity as utility-scale biomass as well as over five times more electricity than either utility-scale geothermal or the mix of petroleum liquids and coke.
Key 2024 Milestones for the Mix of Renewables:
The electrical output of the nation's wind farms in 2024 was 7.7% more than that of a year ago. Wind remains the largest source of electrical generation among renewable energy sources, accounting for 10.3% of the nation's total.
The combination of wind and solar provided more than 17.2% of the nation's electrical generation during 2024.
The mix of all renewables (i.e., wind and solar plus hydropower, biomass and geothermal) provided 24.2% of total U.S. electricity production in 2024 compared to 23.2% of electrical output a year earlier.
Between January and December, electrical generation by renewables grew by 9.6% compared to the same period the year before - nearly three times the growth rate of natural gas (3.3%) and over ten times that of nuclear power (0.9%).
In December alone, electrical generation by renewables grew by 10.1% compared to December 2023.
Other Note-Worthy Developments:
During 2024, wind out-produced hydropower by 87.2% while solar generation surpassed hydropower by 25.2%. [2]
Further, during the year, the combination of wind and solar produced 15.9% more electricity than did coal and came close to matching nuclear power's share of total generation (17.2% vs. 17.8%).
The mix of renewables reinforced their position as the second largest source of electrical generation, behind only natural gas.
"Renewable energy sources now provide a quarter of the nation's electricity," noted the SUN DAY Campaign's executive director Ken Bossong. "Consequently, the rash efforts of the Trump Administration to undermine wind, solar, and other renewables will have serious negative consequences for the nation's electricity supply and the economy."
Source:
EIA released its latest "Electric Power Monthly" report on February 26, 2025. The full report can be found at: https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly
For the data cited in this release, see Table ES1.B ("Total Electric Power Industry Summary Statistics, Year-to-Date 2024 and 2023") as well as Table ES1.A ("Total Electric Power Industry Summary Statistics, 2024 and 2023")
Notes:
[1] In its "Electric Power Monthly" report, EIA refers to small-scale or distributed solar as "Estimated Small Scale Solar Photovoltaic." Unless otherwise indicated, all calculations presented in this release include electrical generation by small-scale solar which EIA estimates to have totaled 84,630 gigawatthours (GWh) during 2024.
[2] In 2024, wind produced 453,454 GWh (10.3%) of total U.S. electrical generation while utility-scale and small-scale solar combined produced 303,168 GWh (6.9%) and hydropower produced 242,226 GWh (5.5%).
The SUN DAY Campaign is a non-profit research and educational organization founded in 1992 to support a rapid transition to 100% reliance on sustainable energy technologies as a cost-effective alternative to nuclear power and fossil fuels and as a solution to climate change.
