Solar supplied 12.8% of U.S. electricity in May while coal fell to 12.2%, its fourth-lowest monthly share ever
Robert Nickelsberg / Getty Images
Solar overtook coal in U.S. electricity generation for the first time on record in May 2026, according to an analysis of official monthly and preliminary hourly generation data by Ember, a global energy think tank. Coal accounted for 12.2% of the electricity mix that month, leaving it just behind solar's 12.8% share.
May's solar output reached 45.5 terawatt-hours, an all-time monthly record that topped the previous high set in July 2025 by a notable margin and represented a 17% jump compared with the same month a year earlier, according to Ember. Coal generation totaled 43.4 TWh, a figure 11% lower than what the fuel produced in May 2025. Coal hit an all-time monthly low of 39.3 TWh in April 2026 before rising slightly in May. Solar also became the third-largest source of electricity in the U.S. last month, behind natural gas and nuclear.
"Overtaking coal for the first month on record shows just how far solar has come, from a niche contributor to the third-largest and fastest-growing source of power in the U.S. electricity system," Nicolas Fulghum, a senior data analyst at Ember, said in a statement.
The milestone arrived the same week that separate data showed continued expansion of solar capacity. A report released jointly by the Solar Energy Industries Association and analytics firm Wood Mackenzie found that 7.8 gigawatts of new solar capacity came online during the first quarter of 2026, pushing the nationwide total past 6 million individual installations. Of all the generating capacity brought online across the country that quarter, the two technologies combined claimed a 91% share, the report found.
Contracts for utility-scale solar rose 15% year over year, driven in part by tech companies seeking power for AI data centers, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association. The SEIA report noted that 74% of first-quarter solar capacity was installed in states that went for President Donald Trump in 2024; Texas, Florida, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Arizona, and Mississippi all placed among the leading states for new additions.
"In a world of fluctuating fuel prices, energy buyers have made it clear that they want the security, low cost, and speed of solar and storage, which commanded a massive 91% of all new capacity built in Q1," Darren Van't Hof, interim president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association, said in a statement.
Solar's gains are coming even as the Trump administration has moved to support the coal industry. The White House last week pledged roughly $700 million in financial support for coal, according to Bloomberg. Ember's data showed natural gas still far ahead of any rival, contributing 37% of total U.S. electricity generation in May.
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