Texas installed more than three gigawatts of solar capacity between July and September, as the state continues to lead the nation in new capacity, according to an industry report.

That’s enough new solar power to juice up about 384,000 Texas homes.

The Q3 report, published last week by the Solar Energy Industries Association and Wood Mackenzie, found the U.S. solar industry installed more than 11.7 GW of new capacity in the same time period. It was the third-largest quarter on record for the U.S. and a 49% increase from the previous quarter.

The report accounts for both residential and industrial solar installations.

Texas installed 7.4 GW of new solar capacity in the first nine months of 2025, nearly double the second-closest state, which was California at 3.8 GW.

Those recent installations brought Texas’ total solar capacity up to 48.2 GW by the end of the third quarter, enough to power 5.8 million homes, according to SEIA. Nearly 4% of Texas homes have solar and 9.5% of Texas electricity comes from the sun.

The Lone Star State is projected to install an additional 36.8 GW of solar over the next five years, the most of any state.

Daniel Giese, SEIA’s Texas state director, said as the state continues to attract businesses, like large-load data centers supporting artificial intelligence, there’s an incredible need for energy and solar can come online quickly and affordably.

“All [energy] resources are growing in Texas, especially solar and storage, and I think it really shows that the free market is working here in the state unlike other areas in the country and parts of the world,” Giese said. “We have an energy-only market that values getting energy on the grid as fast as possible.”

Texas has less red tape for energy projects than many other states, he said, making it particularly attractive to solar firms.

Solar and storage accounted for 85% of all new power added to the grid in the first nine months of 2025, according to the report.

New factories have opened across the U.S., which contributed to the reshoring of every major component of the solar module supply chain.

There are more than 670 solar companies in Texas alone, including 127 solar manufacturers and 240 solar developers.

Though the report mostly highlights solar’s record amount of installations, it noted that changes in permitting and political roadblocks could endanger continued growth.

In the months since the passage of the Big Beautiful Bill, the solar industry on a national scale has been adapting to the impacts, like the repeal of certain tax credits and new uncertainty in the renewable energy industry.

Abigail Ross Hopper, SEIA president and CEO, said in a news release that this record-setting quarter for solar deployment shows the market is continuing to turn to solar to meet rising energy demands.

“Remarkable growth in Texas, Indiana, Utah, and other states won by President Trump shows just how decisively the market is moving toward solar,” Ross Hopper said. “But unless this administration reverses course, the future of clean, affordable, and reliable solar and storage will be frozen by uncertainty and Americans will continue to see their energy bills go up. America’s manufacturing surge, our global competitiveness, and billions of dollars in private investment are on the line.”

For now, the U.S. is still expected to add 250 GW of solar in the next five years. Michelle Davis, head of solar research at Wood Mackenzie, said it is tracking substantial increases in power demand across the country. The solar industry could be well-positioned to meet if constraints were alleviated, she said.

This reporting is part of the Future of North Texas, a community-funded journalism initiative supported by the Commit Partnership, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, the Dallas Mavericks, the Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Lisa and Charles Siegel, the McCune-Losinger Family Fund, The Meadows Foundation, the Perot Foundation, the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas and the University of Texas at Dallas. The News retains full editorial control of this coverage.