Photo: Baltimore County
Solar didn’t just show up in 2025 – it carried the grid. A new analysis from global energy think tank Ember shows that solar power accounted for 61% of the growth in US electricity demand last year, highlighting how central solar has become as power demand accelerates.
US electricity demand jumped by 135 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2025, a 3.1% increase, the fourth‑largest annual rise of the past decade. Over that same period, solar generation grew by a record 83 TWh – a 27% increase from 2024 and the biggest absolute gain of any power source. That single jump in solar output covered 61% of all new electricity demand nationwide.
“Solar growth was essential in helping to meet fast‑rising US electricity demand in 2025,” said Dave Jones, chief analyst at Ember. “It generated where it was needed, and – with the surge in batteries – increasingly when it was needed.”
Texas, the Midwest, and the Mid‑Atlantic saw the largest increases in solar generation last year, and they were also the regions where electricity demand rose the fastest. Solar met 81% of demand growth in both Texas and the Midwest, and 33% in the Mid‑Atlantic.
Timing mattered, too. In aggregate, the increase in solar generation met the entire rise in US electricity demand during daytime hours between 10 am and 6 pm Eastern. And as a result of the rapid buildout of battery storage, solar also helped cover some of the demand growth during the evening hours, from 6 pm to 2 am.
The adoption of battery storage is turning solar from cheap daytime power into something far more flexible. Over the past six years, California’s utility‑scale solar and battery generation has climbed 58%. Yet, output at the sunniest hour of the day has increased by just 8%, a sign that more energy is being stored and used later, rather than dumped onto the grid all at once.
Most of the new solar generation in 2025 was absorbed by rising electricity demand, allowing solar to scale alongside overall grid growth.
“Solar has the potential to meet all the rise in electricity demand and much more. With electricity demand surging, the case to build solar has never been stronger,” said Jones.
Read more: EIA: All net new generating capacity in 2026 may be renewables
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