Move over, King Coal. For the first time ever, the sun beat coal on America’s power grid.
- In May 2026, solar supplied a record 12.8% of US electricity, edging past coal at 12.2% for the first time.
- Solar generated an all-time monthly high of 45.5 terawatt-hours, up about 17% from the same month a year earlier.
- Analysts expect the record could be smashed again during the high-sun summer months.
The landmark finally happened in May 2026, when solar cranked out a record 12.8% of US electricity – an all-time monthly high of 45.5 terawatt-hours. Coal sank to 12.2%, one of its worst months on record.
And no, coal didn’t just have an off month. Solar’s output jumped about 17% from a year earlier and blew past its own record set last July.
How big is 45.5 terawatt-hours? A terawatt-hour is a billion kilowatt-hours – enough to power tens of thousands of homes for a year. Solar served up 45.5 of them in 31 days.
This didn’t come out of nowhere. Cheap panels and a battery boom that banks sunshine for after dark have turned solar into a grid heavyweight, while old coal plants keep switching off for good.
Cleaner air near power plants and a grid that’s getting cheaper to run all combined to land the record, even with federal headwinds for renewables.
Analysts say it could fall again this summer, when the sun’s high and the AC is blasting.
One month won’t rewrite the grid, but the record’s on the books – and the next one is probably coming.
