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Solar energy generation by state

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July Solar Energy Generation by State Report

This month, California remains in first place among states generating electricity from solar power. The Golden State generated almost 35 percent of the U.S. total of 15,516 thousand megawatt-hours, according to ChooseEnergy.com®’s July Solar Report. The report is an analysis of the most recent data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Following is a breakdown of the rest of the Top 10 states (all shown in thousand megawatt-hours) from the EIA’s April data:

Top 10 states generating electricity from solar

State April solar % of U.S. total
California 5,371 34.6
Texas 1,147 7.3
North Carolina 1,102 7.1
Florida 1,025 6.6
Arizona 913 5.8
Nevada 687 4.4
Massachusetts 436 2.8
New Jersey 425 2.7
Utah 423 2.7
New York 400 2.5

U.S. solar generation of electricity rose 15.4 percent in April compared with March. Every state – with the exception of Texas –  saw an increase in solar production within the month. The states with the highest increase were Mississippi, Kansas, Indiana, and Washington.

Following are April and March generation in states with significant generation and the percentage change from month to month. States are listed in order of the amount of electricity generated by solar (including thermal), in thousand megawatt-hours.

Solar Energy by State

State April solar March solar % change
California 5,371 4,570 17.5
Texas 1,147 1,172 -2.1
North Carolina 1,102 879 25.3
Florida 1,025 905 13.2
Arizona 913 808 13.0
Nevada 687 567 21.6
Massachusetts 436 389 12.0
New Jersey 425 381 11.5
Utah 423 341 24.0
New York 400 344 16.2
Virginia 304 273 11.3
South Carolina 291 227 28.1
Colorado 227 196 15.8
New Mexico 207 186 11.2
Minnesota 206 184 11.9
Oregon 191 156 22.4
Maryland 176 152 15.7
Hawaii 164 147 11.5
Illinois 110 97 13.4
Connecticut 110 105 4.7
Pennsylvania 94 84 11.9
Indiana 86 65 32.3
Ohio 79 72 9.7
Idaho 73 63 15.8
Rhode Island 66 60 10.0
Michigan 64 60 6.6
Arkansas 56 49 14.2
Missouri 49 44 11.3
Mississippi 48 36 33.3
Wisconsin 48 43 11.6
Iowa 46 41 12.2
Tennessee 45 35 28.5
Louisiana 42 36 16.6
Vermont 39 34 14.7
Washington 37 28 32.1
Maine 22 21 4.7
Wyoming 21 17 23.5
Delaware 20 18 11.1
Oklahoma 13 10 30.0
Kansas 12 9 33.3
Kentucky 10 9 11.1
Montana 8 7 14.2
Nebraska 8 7 14.2
Alaska 2 1 100.0
U.S. 15,516 13,435 15.4

What percentage of each state’s electricity generation comes from solar?

Nationally, solar accounted for about 5.3 percent of the electricity produced in April. Following are the states that produce the largest percentage of their power from solar:

Top 10 states for percentage of total electricity from solar

State % from solar
Massachusetts 40.2
California 37.0
Hawaii 23.0
Nevada 21.4
Vermont 20.5
Rhode Island 19.8
Utah 15.7
North Carolina 12.2
Arizona 11.3
Delaware 9.7

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Photo credit: Shutterstock

(Last updated July 9, 2021)