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Solar 101

1.1 Solar By the Numbers: 2024

Table Of Contents
Source: IREC National Solar Jobs Census; other data from SEIA/Wood Mackenzie Solar Market Insight Report and the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

General U.S. Solar Stats #

  • 279,447 employed in the solar industry
    • 10,000+ solar businesses across the U.S.
  • 235.7 GW of total installed solar capacity
    • 5,425,045 solar energy systems installed nationwide
  • $70.4B in projected solar investment for 2024
    • 41 states have a solar or battery manufacturing facility

Top 10 States by Cumulative Solar Capacity #

  1. California – 50,640 MW
  2. Texas – 41,460 MW
  3. Florida – 18,547 MW
  4. North Carolina – 9,668 MW
  5. Arizona – 9,645 MW
  6. Nevada – 7,764 MW
  7. Georgia – 7,448 MW
  8. Virginia – 6,839 MW
  9. New York – 6,657 MW
  10. New Jersey – 5,511 MW

Leading Corporate Solar Users (through March 2024) #

  1. Meta – 5,177.3 MW
  2. Amazon – 4,667.5 MW
  3. Google – 2,594.9 MW
  4. Apple – 1,156.2 MW
  5. Walmart – 860.1 MW
  6. Target – 598.3 MW
  7. Microsoft – 550.6 MW
  8. Digital Realty – 435.4 MW
  9. Verizon – 390.7 MW
  10. Home Depot – 343.0 MW

Industry Growth & Manufacturing #

  • Solar now provides nearly 7% of U.S. electricity – over 7× its share a decade ago
  • U.S. module manufacturing capacity exceeds 52 GW, growing nearly 6× over the past two years
  • 84% of new electric capacity in 2024 came from solar and storage combined
    • Solar: 66%
    • Storage: 18%
    • Wind: 10%
    • Natural Gas: 4%
    • Other: 2%

Impact & Future Outlook #

  • Enough solar is installed to power 40.7 million U.S. households
  • 14% of U.S. homes will have a solar PV system by 2030
  • The solar market has experienced 28% average annual growth over the past decade
  • 500 GW of new solar capacity will be installed by 2035
  • In 2024, a new solar project was installed every 54 seconds

Energy Storage Highlights #

  • 44 GWh of utility-scale storage in operation
  • Nearly 500,000 homes have solar + battery systems
  • 28% of residential solar systems installed in 2024 included battery storage

Want to understand the financial incentives behind these numbers?
Jump to What Solar Incentives Are Available, and How Do They Work? to explore tax credits and other benefits driving solar adoption.   

Curious how these installations impact electricity bills?
See After Solar: How Your Bill Changes for examples of post-solar savings.