US Clean Energy Can Now Power ~80 Million Homes!

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The solar power and battery storage project pipelines are growing in the United States. Even if government support for solar has dropped — in the US as a whole as well as in the #1 solar state of California — the clean electricity option is still hyper-competitive due to its very low costs. Battery storage continues to be deployed at high volumes as well thanks to its relatively low costs and superb characteristics to support the grid. Wind power, unfortunately, has taken a considerable hit from the extremely anti-wind administration running the show.

These are some of the overarching insights that come to us from the new Q1 2026 Clean Power Market Report.

The pipeline for clean power projects continues to grow. It rose 6% in the first quarter compared to the first quarter of 2025. The solar power pipeline grew by 13%, leading the way, while the battery storage pipeline grew by 8%. Yes, looking at those three percentages, that means something went in the wrong direction. That would be offshore wind power, which is not surprising given the Trump administration’s relentless and unprecedented attacks on the industry. The onshore wind power pipeline held steady, without growing or dropping, but the offshore wind power pipeline dropped 35%! “Early-and-mid-stage land-based wind projects have struggled to secure approvals from federal regulators, and offshore wind continues to weather permitting roadblocks and uncertainty,” American Clean Power, which published the report, writes.

Getting to the point in the headline, cumulative clean power capacity in the United States has risen to 370 gigawatts (GW), which American Clean Power says is enough power for almost 80 million American homes.

Just looking at solar, more than 3.6 GW of capacity were added in Q1 2026. That put the cumulative total to 161.1 GW. That’s enough power for nearly 600,000 US homes. Solar power also passed up onshore wind power in terms of total installed capacity. Onshore wind power ended the quarter at 160.9 GW. However, a ton of wind power capacity is expected to come online later in the year, so we’ll see if solar power can hold onto the lead.

Unfortunately, while the clean power pipeline news is positive, the installation news is not. Clean power installations declined significantly year over year. “Year-over-year, overall clean energy quarterly capacity installations were down by 17%, compared to the 7,695 MW of capacity energized in Q1 2025,” American Clean Power writes. “Q1 installations also fell by 66% compared to Q4 2025, which can generally be expected as first quarters are typically much slower than fourth quarters.” There were a ton of clean power projects slated for installation when President Joe Biden left office, so it was expected 2025 would be a good year for the installation figures. A dropoff was all but certain. However, it is positive news that the pipeline is growing again. The industry is highly competitive and cannot be held back.

It should be noted, however, that installations are being delayed for a variety of reasons. “Over 6.4 GW of clean power capacity initially expected to become operational during Q1 were delayed, adding to the 53 GW backlog of delayed projects. Project developers often attribute project delays to lengthy permitting schemes, backlogged interconnection queues, and fluctuating prices for key project equipment.“

Funny enough, the state of Texas is on the verge of becoming the first state to reach 100 GW of installed clean power projects. It has 26% of the country’s total installed clean power capacity. Texas has 96.4 GW of clean power capacity installed, after adding 1.6 GW in Q1 2026. Will it reach 100 GW before the end of the year? Probably.

The clean power pipeline rose to 195 GW in the first quarter, a huge amount considering that the current installed base is 370 GW.

The whole report, including many more graphics, is fascinating. I recommend checking it out.