Jenny Chase, financial analyst, on alternative energy sources, “Solar power is pushing out fossil fuels”

Despite the Trump administrations’ efforts to hobble renewable energy projects and push to get Americans to use more fossil fuels, the people are still turning to them to combat higher energy costs. In particular solar has seen tremendous growth in recent years as the price of solar panels has plummeted, becoming the cheapest source of energy.

In 2025, over half of all new electricity-generating capacity added to the U.S. grid came from solar. When storage batteries are thrown into the mix, the two made up nearly 80% of new capacity. The Solar Energy Industries Association forecasts that the 279 gigawatts of capacity installed at the end of 2025 will nearly triple to 769 gigawatts by 2036.

The United States isn’t the only place that is experiencing a solar boom. Worldwide nearly 650 gigawatts were installed last year, an 11% increase from the previous year, according to Ember, an energy think tank. There are now almost 2,900 gigawatts of solar capacity around the world and the International Energy Agency expects it to jump another roughly 3,600 gigawatts by 2030.

“Solar power is pushing out fossil fuels”

The effect of all of this new renewable energy capacity is that it is reducing our reliance on fossil fuels. John Rogers, the associate director of energy analytics at the Union of Concerned Scientists, pointed out that for example in California, generating electricity from gas-fired power plants has declined as solar generation has increased. Data shows that electricity generated by solar surpassed that from gas throughout nearly all of last year in California.

Jenny Chase, founder and head of the solar analysis team at BloombergNEF (New Energy Finance), explained during a TED Talk that the Golden State has managed to cut its carbon emissions by 30% since 2012. Whereas it was once an importer of electricity, it is now an exporter at noon when the Sun is at its highest in the sky. “So solar power is pushing out fossil fuels,” she said.

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