Photovoltaics overtook coal in U.S. electricity generation in May, marking the first time in U.S. history that this renewable source has surpassed fossil fuels in a calendar month, Bloomberg reports.
According to a report published Wednesday by the think tank Ember, which analyzed data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), photovoltaics accounted for 12.8% of U.S. electricity generation last month, while coal accounted for 12.2%.
The use of photovoltaics is growing at a time when the U.S. is rushing to add new electricity generation capacity to meet the growing energy needs of AI data centers. The photovoltaic industry has managed to grow even as the Trump administration has taken steps to counter the rise of this source. The Trump administration is favoring traditional sources of electricity generation, including coal and nuclear power, which can produce power 24/7, over solar and wind.
“This is a structural shift in the U.S. energy system,” said Nicolas Fulghum, an analyst at Ember. Companies are quickly looking for more energy and “see solar as a cheap, accessible, and quick-to-deploy source,” he said.
On a year-over-year basis, U.S. solar power generation rose 17% in May, while coal-fired power declined 11%. Despite the advances in solar, the U.S. remains heavily dependent on fossil fuels. Natural gas is the largest source of electricity generation, accounting for 37% of the energy mix in May, according to Ember.
Still, photovoltaics continue to gain ground, thanks in part to the wider deployment of batteries that can store energy from panels for use when the sun isn’t shining, including at night when demand is at its peak. Photovoltaics and storage together accounted for 91 percent of new capacity installed in the U.S. in the first quarter, according to a separate report released Wednesday by the Photovoltaic Industries Association and consulting firm Wood Mackenzie.
Analysts expect that trend to continue as utilities and data center developers increasingly see photovoltaics paired with battery storage as a vital source of energy.
“We’re going to continue to see record battery usage year after year,” Fulghum said.