Solar accounted for over 5% of US electricity generation in first 10 months of 2022

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
Part of Macho Springs Solar, a 50MW PV plant in New Mexico. Image: El Paso Electric.

Solar energy accounted for over 5% of the total electricity generation in the US in the first 10 months of 2022 as solar output increased 26.23% year-to-date (YTD), according to data released by the US Energy Information Administration.

The data was reviewed in a report by non-profit research organisation the Sun Day Campaign, and showed that almost 23% of the US’ electricity was generated by renewable energy sources in the period January-October 2022. Total renewable electricity generation grew 14.3% in the last 12 months, whilst the total net generation increased by 3.14%.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Unlock unlimited access for 12 whole months of distinctive global analysis

Photovoltaics International is now included.

Not ready to commit yet?
  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Unlimited digital access to the PV Tech Power journal catalogue
  • Unlimited digital access to the Photovoltaics International journal catalogue
  • Access to more than 1,000 technical papers
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

Solar saw by far the greatest growth in the period, increasing by over 26% and accounting for 5.05% of total electricity output, and in October alone solar output was 31.68% greater than the same time a year earlier. In March 2016 solar energy’s YTD generation reached 1% for the first time, since which time its monthly generation has increased almost six times over.

Wind energy provided 9.8% of the US’ total electricity generation, whilst hydropower and geothermal energies both accounted for just over 6%.

Over the ten-month period, combined renewable energies outperformed coal and nuclear generation by 16.62% and 27.39%, respectively, though natural gas maintains the lion’s share of generation with 39.4%.

Executive director of the Sun Day Campaign, Ken Bossong said: “As we begin 2023, it seems very likely that renewables will provide nearly a quarter – if not more – of the nation’s electricity during the coming year, and it is entirely possible that the combination of just wind and solar will outpace nuclear power and maybe even that of coal during the next twelve months.”   

Since the passing of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) last year, the US has seen plans for 22GW of module and cell manufacturing facilities. September research by Wood Mackenzie found that the effects of the IRA may not be fully felt until 2024, as import tariffs and supply chain issues continue to plague the industry’s expansion.

7 October 2025
San Francisco Bay Area, USA
PV Tech has been running an annual PV CellTech Conference since 2016. PV CellTech USA, on 7-8 October 2025 is our third PV CellTech conference dedicated to the U.S. manufacturing sector. The events in 2023 and 2024 were a sell out success and 2025 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.
21 October 2025
New York, USA
Returning for its 12th edition, Solar and Storage Finance USA Summit remains the annual event where decision-makers at the forefront of solar and storage projects across the United States and capital converge. Featuring the most active solar and storage transactors, join us for a packed two-days of deal-making, learning and networking.
16 June 2026
Napa, USA
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 2027 and beyond.

Read Next

August 28, 2025
Indian solar manufacturing firm INA Solar has broken ground on its fourth 4.5GW cell production plant in Narmadapuram, Madhya Pradesh.
Premium
August 28, 2025
US solar companies could potentially pay “tens of billions” of dollars in retroactive duties on products imported from Southeast Asia between June 2022 and June 2024, following a decision from the US Court of International Trade (CIT).
August 28, 2025
Boviet Solar has completed exterior construction work on its 3GW PV cell manufacturing facility in Greenville, Pitt County, North Carolina. 
August 28, 2025
Venture capital firm Pacific Channel has launched Fund V, which targets 10GW of solar, wind, and energy storage in New Zealand.
August 28, 2025
Developer Pacific Energy has successfully commissioned a 26MW solar-plus-storage site at the Atlas-Campaspe mine in NSW, Australia.
August 27, 2025
Independent power producer RP Global is building a 50MWp solar project in Harbke, Germany.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
September 16, 2025
Athens, Greece
Solar Media Events
September 30, 2025
Seattle, USA
Solar Media Events
October 1, 2025
London, UK
Solar Media Events
October 2, 2025
London,UK
Solar Media Events
October 7, 2025
Manila, Philippines