The transition away from fossil fuels is commonly framed as a long-term process, but recent data suggests the shift is already happening. Solar energy has now crossed a serious threshold within the US, surpassing coal within the electricity generation mix for the primary time.
Despite the Trump administration’s attempts to drive a coal revival, it has been steadily losing ground to other energy sources lately, squeezed out by low cost natural gas and rapidly falling renewable energy prices. Solar energy, particularly, has been on a tear as prices drop exponentially.
Last month, the 2 lines finally crossed. Solar supplied 12.8 percent of US electricity in May, edging past coal’s 12.2 percent share to grow to be the country’s third-largest source of power behind natural gas and nuclear, based on recent data from energy think tank Ember.
“Overtaking coal for the primary month on record shows just how far solar has come, from a distinct segment contributor to the third-largest and fastest-growing source of power within the US electricity system,” Nicolas Fulghum, senior data analyst at Ember, said in a press release.
The transition is as much about coal’s waning importance within the US energy system, because it is about solar’s growth. Coal’s share has nearly halved in five years, falling from 19.7 per cent in May 2021 to 12.2 percent today and hitting an all-time monthly low in April.
Over the identical period, solar’s share of electricity generation has greater than doubled from 5.4 percent to 12.8 percent. And it hit an all-time high of 45.5 terawatt-hours in May, up 17 percent in comparison with the identical month last yr and above the previous record set in July 2025. Ember gets its data from the US Energy Information Administration.
The industry does face some headwinds though. A separate report from the Solar Energy Industries Association and analytics firm Wood Mackenzie found that the 7.8 gigawatts of latest solar capability added in the primary quarter of 2026 is a 27 percent decline in comparison with the previous yr.
That is partly because of regular seasonal patterns for the industry, says the report, but was also due to the expiry of a tax credit for residential installations and trade restrictions and tariffs targeting imported solar components from Asia initiated by the Trump administration. The federal government has also made it tougher to get permits for brand new projects.
But despite the apparent slowdown, solar and battery storage together accounted for 91 percent of all latest electricity-generating capability added to the grid in the primary quarter of the yr. And the number of latest utility-scale projects signed in the primary quarter hit 6.3 gigawatts, an increase of 15 percent. Tellingly, the SEIA notes that states President Trump won in 2024 make up 74 percent of latest solar capability installed in that period.
“In a world of fluctuating fuel prices, energy buyers have made it clear that they need the safety, low price, and speed of solar and storage,” Darren Van’t Hof, interim president and CEO at SEIA, said in a press release.
“Impeding the one sector that’s actively constructing latest power is a reckless gamble that can only drive electricity bills higher. The stakes are just too high for Washington’s permitting gridlock to proceed.”
Because of this of those barriers, Wood Mackenzie’s five-year forecast predicts that annual additions will plateau around 43 gigawatts. That’s still a powerful pace of installation, but in addition a big slowdown from the breakneck growth seen during the last couple of many years. So, while solar can have knocked one fossil fuel competitor off the rostrum, with out a change in energy policy it could struggle to take care of its impressive momentum.