Latest
Features , Editors’ Blog , Interviews
Solar Proponent’s 837MW Tehuacana Creek 1 project is the largest project expected to come online in 2026. Image: Solar Proponent.
Developers are forecast to add a record 43.4GW of new utility-scale solar PV capacity to the US power system in 2026, a 60% year-on-year increase over 2025 and more than 12GW above 2024, the current record for capacity additions.
This is the latest prediction made by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) as part of its monthly review of the US energy sector. The EIA expects a total of 86GW of new power generation capacity to come online in 2026, itself a record, and of which solar will account for 51%, the most of any technology type. This is followed by battery energy storage systems (BESS) with 28% (equivalent to 24.3GW), wind with 14% (11.8GW) and natural gas with 7% (6.3GW).
This article requires Premium Subscription Basic (FREE) Subscription
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Try Premium for just $1
Full premium access for the first month at only $1
Converts to an annual rate after 30 days unless cancelled
Cancel anytime during the trial period
Premium Benefits
Expert industry analysis and interviews
Digital access to PV Tech Power journal
Exclusive event discounts
Or continue reading this article for free
Should these forecasts be realised, 2026 will be a rebound year for US solar. Between 2024 and 2025, the US’ annual solar capacity additions dropped, from a record 30.8GW to 27.2GW, and ultimately fell short of the 32.5GW of capacity that the EIA expected to be added.
Much of this slowdown has been attributed to the uncertain, or even hostile, policy environment regarding new renewable energy projects introduced during the second Trump administration, with the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) estimating that “billions of dollars” of private investment in US renewables had been threatened by the policy uncertainty. With the business case for new solar developments much less certain in 2025 than during the years of the Biden administration and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), this translated to fewer projects coming online in 2025.
US to add record 24GW of BESS in 2026
However, the EIA’s forecasts for 2026 remain optimistic, expecting solar to account for more than half of new utility-scale energy generation capacity, as it expected in 2025. The association forecasts Texas to dominate new capacity additions, with 40% of new solar capacity to be located in the state, including Solar Proponent’s 837MW Tehuacana Creek 1 project, the largest in the country that is expected to come online in 2026.
California, meanwhile is expected to add just 6% of the new solar capacity in the coming year, meaning the gap between the US’ two largest solar sectors, by operational capacity, will grow even thinner; according to figures from the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), California’s 54,304MW operational capacity – across all segments including residential solar, C&I and community solar – in the third quarter of 2025 was just a shade above the 48,272MW in operation in Texas.
The Tehuacana Creek 1 project is also set to be co-located with a 418MW BESS, and reflects the growing appetite for storage additions in the US renewable energy space.
The EIA expects a record of 24GW of utility-scale storage to be added this year, up from the 15GW added in 2025, which is a record; the fact that battery storage additions are expected to increase year-on-year, and were not hampered by the policy uncertainty of 2025 in the way that solar was, suggests that ensuring grid security has become one of the priorities for the US energy sector.
As is the case with the solar sector, Texas is expected to be home to the majority of this new capacity, with 53% of new BESS projects expected to come online in the state. This includes three of the largest four projects expected to begin operation in the country—the 631MW Lunis Creek project, the 600MW Clear Fork Creek project and the aforementioned 418MW Tehuacana Creek 1 project—with two of these projects, Clear Fork Creek and Tehuacana Creek 1, including solar and storage elements.
However, the co-location of solar and storage is not a silver bullet for energy supply and grid security issues. Speakers at this year’s Energy Storage Summit, held in London this week by PV Tech publisher Solar Media, described the addition of batteries to a solar project as an “overhyped” solution in Europe.
You can read all of our coverage from the event, including a rolling blog of each of the day’s top stories, on our sister site, Energy-Storage.news .
PV Tech has been running PV ModuleTech Conferences since 2017. PV ModuleTech USA, on 16-17 June 2026, will be our fifth PV ModulelTech conference dedicated to the U.S. utility scale solar sector. The event will gather the key stakeholders from solar developers, solar asset owners and investors, PV manufacturing, policy-making and and all interested downstream channels and third-party entities. The goal is simple: to map out the PV module supply channels to the U.S. out to 2028 and beyond.
San Francisco Bay Area, USA
PV Tech has been running an annual PV CellTech Conference since 2016. PV CellTech USA, on 13-14 October 2026 is our third PV CellTech conference dedicated to the U.S. manufacturing sector. The events in 2023, 2024 and 2025 were a sell out success and 2026 will once again gather the key stakeholders from PV manufacturing, equipment/materials, policy-making and strategy, capital equipment investment and all interested downstream channels and third-party entities. The goal is simple: to map out PV manufacturing in the U.S. out to 2030 and beyond.
Read Next
US engineering and manufacturing company MacLean-Fogg has acquired solar PV tracker and fixed-tilt solutions manufacturer OMCO Solar.
Power loss at solar PV projects has more than doubled in the last five years despite maturing markets and advancing technology, according to new data from US-based solar asset analysis firm Raptor Maps.
A round-up of several project stories in the US that have been announced this week, including OCI Energy, Arava Power, Arevon Energy and MN8.
Co-located storage has been “overhyped” as a prop for commercially underperforming solar assets in Europe and should not be regarded as a “silver bullet”.
Clean energy investment in the US remained resilient in 2025 despite political volatility and accelerated tax credit deadlines, reports Crux.
First Solar has signed a patent licensing agreement with UK-based perovskite solar firm Oxford PV to use its technology in the US.
Most Read
Features , Guest Blog , Long Reads
Upcoming Events
San Francisco Bay Area, USA
https://www.pv-tech.org/eia-us-add-record-43-4gw-new-utility-scale-solar-pv-capacity-2026/
