Of every hundred megawatts of new electricity generation added to the American grid in the first quarter of 2026, ninety-one came from solar panels and batteries [1].
That is the highest combined quarterly share the two technologies have ever recorded, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association [1]. Solar now supplies roughly 13 percent of total US electricity [1].
The batteries are the part that changed most recently, because they answer the oldest objection to solar - that it stops at sunset. On July 9, California's battery fleet discharged 12.99 gigawatts, meeting 36 percent of regional demand [1]. The next day, CAISO solar hit 23 gigawatts and met 72 percent of afternoon demand [1]. In Texas, ERCOT batteries supplied a record 20 percent of evening demand [1].
Ninety-one percent is a statement about what gets built now, not about what is running. The existing fleet turns over slowly. What the number describes is the direction every new decision is going.
