Solar and Storage Supplied 91% of New U.S. Power Capacity in Q1 2026
The U.S. added 7.8 GWdc of solar in Q1 2026, while solar and battery storage together represented 91% of newly installed power capacity.
News report · July 20, 2026 · 6 min read
Solar and battery storage dominated new U.S. power capacity additions during the first quarter of 2026.
According to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and Wood Mackenzie, the United States installed 7.8 gigawatts direct current (GWdc) of solar capacity during Q1 2026.
Solar alone accounted for approximately 60% of all new electricity-generating capacity added during the quarter. When battery storage is included, the two technologies represented 91% of new U.S. power capacity additions.
The numbers demonstrate solar's increasingly important role in new U.S. electricity infrastructure, but they also require some context: Q1 2026 solar installations were 27% lower than Q1 2025 and 42% below Q4 2025.
Wood Mackenzie attributed much of the quarter-to-quarter difference to typical first-quarter seasonality rather than a fundamental collapse in the solar market.
What Does 7.8 GWdc of New Solar Mean?
Solar capacity is commonly expressed in gigawatts direct current, or GWdc, representing the rated DC capacity of installed photovoltaic modules.
The 7.8 GWdc installed during Q1 includes multiple segments of the U.S. solar market, with utility-scale projects accounting for a large share of deployment.
Another milestone was also reached: the United States surpassed six million cumulative solar installations.
The more significant figure from an electricity-infrastructure perspective, however, may be solar's share of new capacity.
If solar represented approximately 60% of new generating capacity, then for every 10 MW of new generating capacity added during the quarter, roughly 6 MW was solar.
Adding battery storage brings the combined solar-and-storage share to 91%.
That does not mean solar and batteries generated 91% of U.S. electricity during Q1.
It means they represented 91% of new power capacity installed during that period.
This distinction is important.
Solar Installations Fell Year Over Year — But Solar Still Led New Capacity
The Q1 numbers tell two stories at the same time.
On one hand, solar remained the largest source of newly installed U.S. generating capacity.
On the other hand, the 7.8 GWdc installed was 27% lower than Q1 2025 and 42% lower than Q4 2025.
This means the 91% figure should not be interpreted as solar deployment increasing by 91%.
Instead, it shows that among the power-generation technologies being added to the U.S. grid, solar and battery storage accounted for an unusually large share.
Wood Mackenzie also reported that contracts for future utility-scale solar projects increased 15% year over year, with growing electricity demand contributing to new power procurement.
Why Solar and Battery Storage Are Increasingly Paired
Solar PV and battery storage perform different roles.
Solar panels convert sunlight into electricity, while batteries can store electricity and release it later.
A solar installation typically produces its highest output during daylight hours. Electricity demand, however, does not necessarily peak at exactly the same time.
Battery storage can help shift some energy availability from one period to another.
For example, a solar-plus-storage system may:
- Generate electricity during midday
- Store some excess energy in a battery
- Discharge stored energy later when demand is higher
- Respond to grid operating requirements when configured to do so
At utility scale, batteries can also provide grid services that are different from simply storing excess solar generation.
This is why solar and battery storage are related technologies but should not be treated as the same thing.
Energy Capacity and Power Capacity Are Different
Battery statistics can sometimes be confusing because storage systems are described using both power and energy.
Power is measured in units such as megawatts (MW) or gigawatts (GW) and describes how quickly a battery can deliver electricity.
Energy is measured in megawatt-hours (MWh) or gigawatt-hours (GWh) and describes how much energy can be stored or delivered over time.
For example, consider a hypothetical:
100 MW / 400 MWh battery
In simplified terms, a battery with this rating could theoretically discharge at its full 100 MW power level for approximately four hours.
The basic relationship is:
Duration = Energy Capacity ÷ Power Capacity
So:
400 MWh ÷ 100 MW = 4 hours
Actual battery operation can differ because of operating limits, efficiency, state-of-charge requirements, degradation, and grid needs.
Understanding this distinction is useful when comparing solar generating capacity with battery-storage deployment.
Why the 91% Figure Matters
Electricity systems require new generating capacity as older equipment retires and electricity demand changes.
The fact that solar and storage represented 91% of newly installed capacity in Q1 indicates where a large portion of current U.S. power-sector investment is being directed.
SEIA and Wood Mackenzie also pointed to increasing electricity demand as an important factor influencing development.
Solar projects can be deployed at many scales, ranging from residential rooftop systems to very large utility-scale facilities.
Battery storage adds another capability by allowing electricity supply and demand to be managed across time.
However, neither technology eliminates the need for:
- Transmission infrastructure
- Distribution networks
- Grid planning
- Other generation resources
- Flexible demand
- Reliable system controls
A power grid with increasing amounts of variable renewable generation requires careful coordination between generation, storage, transmission, demand, and grid controls.
How Battery Storage Supports a Solar-Heavy Grid
Solar output naturally rises and falls with sunlight.
In many regions, solar generation is strongest around midday, while electricity demand can remain high later in the afternoon or evening.
Battery storage can help reduce this timing mismatch.
A simplified example might look like this:
- Solar generation peaks at noon
- Electricity demand remains moderate during midday
- Excess electricity charges a battery
- Solar generation falls in the evening
- Electricity demand remains high
- The battery discharges stored energy
This does not mean batteries can solve every grid challenge.
Storage duration, battery size, transmission constraints, weather conditions, and regional demand patterns all affect how useful a storage system can be.
Still, battery storage can make variable solar generation easier to integrate into a larger electricity system.
Solar Alone Accounted for 60% of New Capacity
One of the most notable figures in the Q1 report is that solar alone represented approximately 60% of new U.S. electricity-generating capacity.
This provides important context for the larger 91% solar-plus-storage figure.
Solar is therefore not simply benefiting from battery growth.
PV itself accounted for the majority of newly installed generating capacity during the quarter.
Battery storage then substantially increased the combined share of the two technologies.
This shows that solar is already playing a leading role in the construction of new U.S. electricity infrastructure.
What Does This Mean for Homeowners?
The national 91% figure primarily describes new U.S. power-sector capacity, so it should not be interpreted as evidence that every homeowner should immediately install solar and batteries.
Residential economics depend heavily on local conditions.
A homeowner considering solar should evaluate factors such as:
- Local electricity rates
- Available sunlight
- Roof orientation and shading
- Installation cost
- Financing terms
- Utility rules
- Available incentives
- Expected household electricity consumption
Battery storage requires additional considerations, including:
- Desired backup duration
- Battery energy capacity
- Maximum charge and discharge power
- Critical household loads
- Solar array size
- Electricity rate structure
- Grid export rules
- Whether backup power is a priority
For example, a homeowner who primarily wants to lower electricity bills may choose a different system configuration than someone whose main objective is backup power during outages.
The rapid national growth of solar and storage means consumers are likely to encounter more products and system configurations, but proper system sizing remains important.
A Simple Residential Example
Consider a home that consumes 20 kWh of electricity per day.
If a rooftop PV system generates 24 kWh on a sunny day, the household may have approximately 4 kWh of energy above its daily consumption.
In practice, the timing of generation and consumption matters.
The home may consume much of its electricity in the evening when solar production is low.
Without a battery, excess midday solar electricity might be exported to the grid if local utility rules allow it.
With a battery, some of that excess energy could potentially be stored and used later.
For example:
- Daily household use: 20 kWh
- Solar generation: 24 kWh
- Midday excess available for storage: approximately 4 kWh
- Evening consumption can use part of the stored energy
This is only a simplified illustration.
Real systems must account for inverter efficiency, battery losses, minimum state of charge, system limits, weather variation, and the actual hourly load profile.
Challenges Remain
Strong deployment numbers do not mean the U.S. solar market is free of challenges.
SEIA and Wood Mackenzie highlighted changing policy and regulatory conditions as sources of uncertainty for the industry.
The Q1 decline compared with the previous year also shows why a single headline statistic should not be used to describe the entire market.
Solar can simultaneously:
- Dominate new generating-capacity additions
- Have a strong project pipeline
- Experience quarterly or annual installation declines
- Face permitting challenges
- Face interconnection delays
- Experience supply-chain constraints
- Be affected by policy changes
These conditions are not contradictory.
They illustrate the difference between solar's growing role in the electricity system and the short-term factors affecting project development.
Why New Capacity Is Different From Electricity Generation
It is important to distinguish between installed capacity and electricity generation.
Installed capacity tells us the maximum rated output of a generating resource under specified conditions.
Electricity generation measures how much electricity a resource actually produces over a period of time.
For example, a 100 MW solar farm does not generate 100 MW continuously throughout the day.
Its output varies depending on:
- Sunlight
- Time of day
- Weather
- Temperature
- Equipment availability
- Curtailment
- System losses
Therefore, saying solar and storage represented 91% of new capacity does not mean they supplied 91% of total U.S. electricity.
The statistic instead shows which technologies dominated new power-system additions during the quarter.
Looking Ahead
The Q1 2026 results show that solar and battery storage are playing a major role in new U.S. electricity infrastructure.
The key figures include:
- 7.8 GWdc of solar installed in Q1 2026
- 60% of new generating capacity came from solar
- 91% of new power capacity came from solar and storage combined
- U.S. cumulative solar installations surpassed six million
- Utility-scale solar contracting increased 15% year over year
- Q1 solar installations were 27% lower than Q1 2025
Taken together, these numbers present a more complete picture than the 91% headline alone.
Solar deployment slowed compared with the previous year's first quarter, yet solar still represented the majority of new U.S. generating capacity.
Combined with expanding battery storage, the two technologies accounted for nearly all new power capacity installed during the quarter.
For the electricity industry, the important question is increasingly not simply how much solar can be installed, but how generation, storage, transmission, demand, and grid controls can work together as the power system evolves.
Read the 91% Figure in Context
The first quarter of 2026 illustrates both the scale and complexity of the U.S. solar market.
Solar remained the leading source of new generating capacity even though installations declined compared with the same quarter a year earlier.
At the same time, battery storage significantly increased the combined contribution of solar and storage to new power-sector capacity.
The headline 91% figure is significant, but it becomes more meaningful when understood correctly.
It refers to the share of newly installed power capacity, not the share of electricity generated across the entire United States.
For homeowners, engineers, developers, and energy professionals, the broader trend is clear: solar generation and battery storage are becoming increasingly important parts of new electricity infrastructure.
The next challenge is ensuring those resources are integrated effectively with the rest of the power system.
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