The Rise of Batteries Plus Solar

This report by Ember analyzes the accelerating deployment of battery storage and solar power in the United States, highlighting how batteries are enabling higher solar penetration and displacing fossil fuels, particularly in California and Texas.

• In 2024, California and Nevada became the first US states to exceed a 30% annual solar share of electricity generation, with California reaching 32% (up from 28% in 2023) and Nevada reaching 31% (up from 26% in 2023). Other leading states include Massachusetts (26%), Hawaii (21%), and Vermont (17%).
• Battery storage is critical for increasing solar capacity and reducing reliance on gas and coal. In California, batteries became the largest electricity source on the grid during evening hours in April 2024, which reduced the gas contribution to evening peak demand to approximately half of its April 2021 levels. In February 2025, batteries absorbed 30% of daily solar generation on a relatively sunny day.
• California and Texas are leading in battery capacity. California's capacity grew from 0.6 GW in 2020 to 11.7 GW in 2024, representing 45% of total US utility battery capacity. In 2024, Texas installed 3.9 GW of new utility-scale battery capacity, surpassing California's 3.8 GW, and doubled its total capacity from 3.6 GW in 2023 to 7.5 GW.
• Nationally, the US added 36 GW of new solar capacity in 2024, which was 81% of total power capacity additions. This included 31 GW of utility-scale solar and 10 GW of utility-scale batteries. The ratio of new battery to solar additions was 1:3 in 2024 and is projected to reach 1:1.7 (60%) in 2025.
• There is a significant trend toward co-locating solar and battery projects. The percentage of solar projects entering grid queues with planned batteries increased from 44% (590 projects) in 2022 to 75% (765 projects) in 2023.

APA

Ember (2025). The Rise of Batteries Plus Solar. https://ember-energy.org/chapter/the-rise-of-batteries-plus-solar/

Chicago

Ember. The Rise of Batteries Plus Solar. 2025. https://ember-energy.org/chapter/the-rise-of-batteries-plus-solar/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Ember |title=The Rise of Batteries Plus Solar |date=6 March 2025 |url=https://ember-energy.org/chapter/the-rise-of-batteries-plus-solar/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{ember2025rise, author = {{Ember}}, title = {{The Rise of Batteries Plus Solar}}, institution = {Ember}, year = {2025}, month = mar, url = {https://ember-energy.org/chapter/the-rise-of-batteries-plus-solar/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }