Solar just produced more electricity than coal in the US for the first month ever
and it won't be the last...
Over the last two decades, the role of coal and solar in the US mix has changed drastically
May 2006: 🪨 48%, ☀️ 0%
May 2016: 🪨 26%, ☀️ 2%
May 2026: 🪨 12%, ☀️ 13%
NEW | Solar overtook coal generation in the US for the first month on record
In May, solar generated an estimated 12.8% of US electricity, an all-time high!
Coal produced 12.2%
For now, it's one month, soon it will happen across the year.
🚨 NEW | The EU's domestic clean tech manufacturing can meet MORE THAN 100% of the region's demand for EVs, heat pumps and wind turbines 🇪🇺
🧵1/4
ember-energy.org/lat...
Ember's Nicolas Fulghum joined Shayle Kann on the Catalyst podcast to unpack the trends from Ember's Global Electricity Review 2026.
🎧
The economic case for batteries is absolutely there in Germany's system, but the regulatory framework to get projects built and connected quickly is still lacking.
A huge missed opportunity.
Data is from Energy-Charts and includes rooftop solar generation.
On Thursday last week, Germany's solar hit a new all-time generation record of 68.7 GW!
In 2026, solar has regularly been surpassing total system load.
Batteries are a necessary next step to smooth out peaks, shave off evening prices and avoid curtailment.
And here's the link to the full press release about solar overtaking coal in the US: ember-energy.org/latest-updat...
May 2026 set a new all-time record for British solar generation.
According to the latest NESO data, solar generated 2.8 TWh, beating the previous record set in a very sunny May 2025.
Solar is now regularly meeting over a quarter of Britain's midday electricity needs.
Check out the data in the @ember-energy.org Electricity Data Explorer ember-energy.org/data/electri...
Read the full press release here: ember-energy.org/latest-updat...
Nicolas Fulghum
Nicolas Fulghum
Nicolas Fulghum
Nicolas Fulghum
Nicolas Fulghum
Nicolas Fulghum
Nicolas Fulghum
Nicolas Fulghum
Ember
Ember
Explore national and state level fossil and renewable electricity generation and carbon emissions data for the United States
