State of the Sector

In 2026, the United States surpassed 6 million solar installations, just two short years after it reached 5 million installations. For Americans looking to save on their utility bills and, for those who add batteries, ensure resilient access to power during a grid outage, solar and storage are the go-to solutions.

What does this milestone mean?

  • There is enough solar installed in the United States to power roughly 50 million households, and by 2034, there will be enough solar capacity to power 100 million homes.
  • In 2025, a new solar project was installed every 59 seconds, and solar and storage combined to provide 79% of all new energy capacity added to the U.S. grid.
  • Current projections show that this momentum will continue. Every year from now through 2030, the solar industry is expected to install an additional 40 GW of capacity.

Solar in the States

  • Between 2020 and today, the number of states and territories with over 100,000 installations more than doubled from 6 to 15.
  • Over the same time frame, the number of states with over one gigawatt of solar capacity doubled from 18 to 39.
  • In 2025, the top 10 states for solar installations touched both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, America’s northern and southern borders, and three of the five Great Lakes.
  • America has enough solar installations to cover every residential rooftop in New York and New Jersey.

This extract has been sourced from the official website of SEIA and can be accessed here

Maryland: Governor Moore announces $43 million for new community solar projects

Governor Wes Moore announced 69 new grants totaling $43 million for Community Solar projects around the state that will bring clean energy and cut electricity bills for low-income households on June 8, 2026. The Community Solar Grant Program ensures Marylanders who rent their homes or cannot install solar panels on their own properties can access the many benefits of solar. 

The Maryland Energy Administration’s Fiscal Year 2026 Community Solar LMI-PPA Grant Program requires developers of Community Solar projects deliver 15% of the site’s electricity to low-income households with a minimum savings of 12%. For many customers, the actual savings far exceeds 20%. This year, a portion of the program also prioritized projects that are located on brownfields to turn former wastelands into clean energy production hubs. 

In total, the new grants will deliver electricity to low-income households, at a discount of at least 25% to more than 4,800 households. The Department of Human Services will oversee the distribution of the electricity to more than 1,000 additional households for energy assistance. 

This has been sourced from the official website of the State of Maryland and can be accessed here

California: CPUC updates existing community solar programs and finalises implementation details of the Community Renewable Energy Program

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), on June 11, 2026, finalized key implementation details of the Community Renewable Energy (CRE) Program and updated its other existing community solar programs, which deliver bill savings to low-income customers and maintain strong protections for non-participating ratepayers.

Community solar allows customers, such as non-profits, businesses, renters, and those living in multifamily housing, to subscribe to a portion of a shared solar array, often located within their community, and receive a reduction on their electricity bills.

The decision finalises implementation details of the CRE Program and updates existing programs, including the Disadvantaged Communities Green Tariff (DAC-GT) and Green Tariff offerings. Together, these programs contribute to the ever-increasing portfolio of clean energy resources delivering on decarbonization goals for residential, commercial, and low-income customers across California.

This has been sourced from the official website of CPUC and can be accessed here

New York: Doubles down on rooftop and community solar energy programs in state budget

The New York State Legislature and the Governor finalised New York’s FY2027 budget, making significant new commitments to New York’s highly successful rooftop and community solar programs in May 2026. Distributed solar lowers New Yorkers’ electricity bills by providing direct savings to homes and businesses while lowering rates for everyone by injecting power on the grid during times of peak demand.

In addition to investing $200M in the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) NY-Sun program that incentivises rooftop and community solar, the budget directs the New York State Public Service Commission to modernize the utility interconnection process, which will lower costs and accelerate timelines to connect new solar and energy storage projects to the electric grid.

$200M of NY-Sun funding will support approximately one gigawatt of incremental rooftop and community solar capacity, lowering utility bills for families and businesses, leveraging an estimated $1.5 billion of private capital, and supporting thousands of good local jobs in New York’s most successful clean energy sector.

The most significant interconnection reform is a directive for New York utilities to develop Flexible Interconnection programs. With Flexible Interconnection, utilities use smart-grid controls to actively manage solar and energy storage exports and charging, avoiding the need for cost-prohibitive traditional distribution upgrades that would otherwise prevent projects from moving forward. A recent study estimates that Flexible Interconnection can increase hosting capacity for community solar in Upstate NY by up to 97%, unlocking an estimated 3.3 gigawatts of additional cost-effective capacity. The study also found that Flexible Interconnection could increase energy storage integration in Con Edison territory by up to 274%.

The Budget also includes directives to increase utility cost-transparency, to consider distributed energy resources in proactive planning proceedings, and directs utilities to consider non-wires alternatives to expensive traditional capital projects; a potential boon for ratepayers and the environment.

These policies will drive continued progress toward New York’s clean energy goals while delivering New York ratepayers relief from rising utility bills. A recent study by Synapse Energy Economics finds that scaling up distributed solar and storage deployment in New York State can deliver $1 billion in annual utility bill savings through lower wholesale rates for everyone while supporting thousands of good jobs all across the State.

Now that the Budget has been finalized, NYSERDA and the Public Service Commission will develop detailed proposals to implement these policies and support the continued success of New York’s nation-leading distributed solar programs.

This has been sourced from the official website of SEIA and can be accessed here