Solar power installations declined in the United States last year, as the Trump administration sought to impede the growth of renewable energy, according to an industry report released Tuesday.
Solar energy maintained its position as the largest source of new electricity generation added to the electric grid, but the amount added was 14% lower than in 2024, according to the report and data published by the Solar Energy Industries Association and Wood Mackenzie, an energy research firm.
Last year was much better for battery storage installations, which increased to their highest annual level, the report said. Trump administration officials have not criticized batteries as much as they have criticized solar and wind power.
“The emphasis in federal energy policy that happened throughout 2025 on fossil fuels and a kind of a move away from renewables definitely made an impact on the solar industry, to be sure,” said Michelle Davis, head of global solar at Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables. “It’s undeniable.”
It is too early to say how the war with Iran, which has sharply driven up the prices of oil and natural gas, will affect renewable energy. A sustained rise in those costs could push businesses and individuals worldwide to buy more solar panels and batteries. But some policymakers may respond by pulling back clean energy goals and increase subsidies for fossil fuels.
The U.S. government began making drastic changes to energy policies when President Donald Trump returned to office. Last summer, the Energy Department announced plans to cut hundreds of millions of dollars from federal renewable energy and efficiency programs, largely targeting solar and wind power. Other government departments and agencies have stalled environmental and other reviews of wind and solar projects.
Trump’s energy secretary, Chris Wright, has frequently criticized renewable energy, describing it as inadequate and unreliable while praising and directing more federal funding to coal, natural gas and nuclear projects.
“Beyond the obvious scale and cost problems, there is simply no physical way wind, solar and batteries could replace the myriad uses of natural gas,” Wright, a former oil and gas executive, said last year at CERAWeek by S&P Global, an annual energy conference in Houston.
Yet the Energy Information Administration, a division of the Energy Department, still projects that solar power will account for just over half of the new power projects this year. More than half of those new installations are expected in Texas, Arizona, California and Michigan.
“We expect 2026 to be another big year for solar additions,” the agency said in a statement last month.
Wright and other administration officials have taken a softer position on the batteries as large as shipping containers used by energy companies and other businesses to store and discharge power. Many battery projects are being approved and built, especially in California and Texas.
Solar and battery installations are also growing in other countries, with solar panels leading all forms of new power generation worldwide. Wood Mackenzie expects global solar additions to triple by 2035, with countries such as India and Saudi Arabia leading the way.
At the same time, growth of solar energy is starting to slow or decline in countries, like the United States and China, that have been adding a lot of renewable energy capacity for many years.
China is expected to experience a 32% drop in solar installations this year, largely because recent policy changes effectively reduced the profits of solar energy companies. Solar additions globally are expected to decline by one-fifth as a result.
Despite the slowing of new installations, the solar industry could grow rapidly outside the United States and China.
The greater use of solar panels is one of the main reasons that the energy industry is adding a lot of batteries, which can soak up excess electricity generated during the day for use at night and in the early morning.
Last year, U.S. energy storage installations grew 30% above the previous record, set the prior year, and were four times what the industry installed just three years ago.
Businesses, including electric utilities, and individuals are both installing batteries. Many people buy batteries as part of a home solar system. But homeowners are also increasingly buying stand-alone batteries to protect themselves against power outages.
Solar and batteries can help individuals and businesses reduce electricity costs and support the electric grid, which is struggling with rising demand for energy. Utilities also are contending with the need to upgrade and repair aging equipment and prepare for extreme weather.
“Deployment is rising fast, but without a course correction from federal actions targeting the industry, Americans will face higher electricity prices and a less resilient energy system,” said Darren Van’t Hof, interim president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association.