WASHINGTON, D.C.—A review by the SUN DAY Campaign of data newly released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) confirms that solar has continued its decade-long streak as the nation’s fastest growing source of electricity.
In its latest monthly “Electric Power Monthly” report (with data through April 30, 2024), EIA says the combination of utility-scale and small-scale (e.g., rooftop) solar increased by 25.4 percent in the first four months of 2024 compared to the first third of 2023. Small-scale solar alone grew by 19.3 percent while utility-scale solar thermal and photovoltaic expanded by 28.4 percent—substantially faster than any other energy source.
As a consequence, solar was 6.0 percent of total U.S. electrical generation during the first third and growing rapidly. In April alone, its share rose to an all-time high of 8.4 percent.
Small-scale solar accounted for nearly a third (30.8 percent) of all solar generation and provided almost two percent (1.9 percent) of U.S. electricity supply in the first four months of this year. It reached 2.5 percent in April.
Key YTD Trends for Wind, Hydro, & Other Renewables:
Following significant declines in 2023, electrical production by both hydropower and wind continued to show signs of recovery.
For the first third of 2024, hydropower’s output rose 5.5 percent compared to the first four months of 2023. Moreover, for April alone, hydro production was 9.8 percent above the level reported a year earlier.
Electrical generation by wind in the first third of 2024 was 0.7 percent more than that of a year ago. However, wind-generated electricity in March 2024 was 2.9 percent above the level recorded in March 2023 and in April 2024 it was 10.7 percent above that produced in April 2023.
Electrical generation by the mix of all renewables (i.e., solar, wind and hydropower plus biomass and geothermal) grew by 6.3 percent in the first third of 2024 compared to the same period a year earlier and provided 26.2 percent of total generation.
In April alone, electrical generation by renewables grew by 13.5 percent compared to April 2023 and reached 31.0 percent of the U.S. total—the first time that renewable energy sources ever provided more than 30 percent of the nation’s electrical generation in any month. A year earlier, it had been 28.4 percent.
The combination of just wind and solar accounted for almost a quarter (23.45 percent) of the nation’s electrical generation in April alone—another record.
Other Developments
During the first four months of 2024, solar generation (6.0 percent of the total) pulled nearly even with hydropower (6.1 percent) and did surpass it in April by almost 40 percent making solar the second largest renewable energy source—behind only wind (whose own output in April was more than double that of hydro).
Similarly, electrical generation by wind alone approached the output of the nation’s coal plants during the first third of 2024 and surpassed coal’s output by more than a quarter (28.1 percent) in the month of April. Wind plus solar produced more than two times as much electricity as did coal in April.
Meanwhile, the combination of wind and solar nearly matched the electrical output of the nation’s nuclear reactors during the first third of 2024 and did, in fact, outproduce nuclear power by more than 30 percent in April alone. The mix of all renewables provided almost 40 percent more electricity than did nuclear power during the first four months of 2024 and surpassed nuclear power by 72.1 percent in April alone.
Taken together, renewables strengthened their position as the second largest source of electrical generation, behind only natural gas whose lead over renewables continues to narrow. Natural gas’ share averaged 40.1 percent during the first third of 2023 but fell to 38.5 percent in April.
“EIA’s latest data do not yet include the sunniest days and weeks of the year, and it can therefore be assumed that more records will be broken by renewables in the months ahead,” noted the SUN DAY Campaign’s executive director Ken Bossong. “And it appears that renewables are once again out-performing earlier EIA projections.”
