Solar power has exploded in popularity as wind lags, report shows

Renewable energy production reached record amounts in 2024, producing 24% of U.S. electricity, an annual update on sustainable energy finds.

That includes electricity from solar, wind and hydroelectric power plants, with solar driving the increase, the Sustainable Energy in America 2025 Factbook, released Friday, reports.

Windpower is becoming less popular, both onshore and offshore projects struggled in 2024, showing the fourth straight year of declining additions.

“From the point of view of solar, things have been going very well. Huge, record level of additions, this sector has been going from strength to strength,” said Tom Rolands-Reese, the head of research for North America for BloombergNEF, which produces the annual factbook together with the Business Council for Sustainable Energy.

With significant changes to U.S. energy policies under the Trump administration, whether these trends will continue is not clear.

For people living in a city isn’t wind just straight up a lot harder. Like you can’t put a huge wind turbine up unless you basically have a decent chunk of land. And it’s my understanding wind is not as ideal in places with a lot of cars and houses close together. Versus solar panels that you can just put on your roof and not take much more consideration other then projected energy generation based on location.