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U.S. solar generation grew 21.6% last year, with 26 states outpacing the national average. Among them, a group of 15 states achieved remarkable growth of over 50%, led by some surprising players.
Solar electricity generation in the United States increased by 17.5% in 2023 compared to 2022, accounting for 5.5% of all electricity. Momentum has continued into 2024, with solar up 22.5% year-over-year through September, reaching 6.63% of all electricity over the past twelve months. Within this national growth, 15 states saw their solar generation increase by more than 50%, and many of these states have historically been laggards in solar development.
According to data from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA), refined by PV Intel, the following 15 states have exceeded 50% growth in solar generation over the past year:
South Dakota – 7067%
West Virginia – 347
Ohio – 126%
Arkansas – 116%
Montana – 103%
Oklahoma – 96%
Louisiana – 93%
Wyoming – 88%
Mississippi – 84%
Wisconsin – 74%
New Mexico – 60%
Nebraska – 58 %
Maine – 57%
Indiana – 57%
Pennsylvania – 52%
South Dakota leads the pack with a remarkable 7,067% increase, driven by its first two utility-scale solar installations. The state’s solar generation went from virtually nothing, with a single 1 MW project, to a significant presence with new installations bringing measurable power to the grid.
The map below, which ranks states by solar growth over the past 12 months, reveals a couple of rough geographic patterns. States with growth greater than 50% are shown in red, states with growth between the national average of 22.5% and 50% are shown in green, and states with below-average growth are marked in yellow.
One notable trend is that states with higher growth rates tend to cluster geographically, forming multiple hotspots of rapid solar expansion across the country. In contrast, slower-growing states are most prominent along the coasts, with a few exceptions. Additionally, parts of the Midwest Wind Belt show below-average solar growth.
Many of the high-growth states are expanding from a low starting point, and most started out as “solar laggards.” These states previously had minimal solar capacity, so even modest additions represent substantial percentage increases. In fact, all but two of these high-growth states still have total solar generation well below the national average of 6% of electricity from solar. In contrast, many of the slower-growing states are expanding from larger existing volumes of solar, which naturally leads to lower percentage growth rates despite significant absolute contributions.
However, two exceptions stand out: Maine and New Mexico. Unlike the others, these states already get more than 10% of their electricity from solar energy, making them leaders in solar adoption. The absolute volume of solar deployment is increasing across the country. Previously lagging states are catching up, while established solar leaders continue to grow, albeit more slowly. Solar-leading states such as California, Nevada, Hawaii, and Massachusetts are among the 24 states that grew below the national average, reflecting their already high levels of solar adoption. By contrast, this group also includes states such as Alaska, Alabama, Kansas, and North Dakota, where solar accounts for less than 1% of electricity generation. |
