As President Donald Trump enacts policies to “drill, baby, drill” and bring down U.S. prices for oil and gas, solar is gaining momentum.

In 2024, the U.S. solar industry installed 21% more capacity compared with 2023, according to a new report released Tuesday by the data analytics firm Wood Mackenzie and the Solar Energy Industries Association.

Texas added the most new solar capacity, followed by California and Florida. Nationally, solar power made up 66% of new electricity-generating capacity added last year. 

The increase was largely driven by commercial, community and utility-scale installations, which were up 8%, 35% and 33%, respectively. Residential installations fell 32%, hampered by the bankruptcies of major solar contractors, high interest rates and consumer anxiety about last year’s presidential election. 

“Solar installations more than doubled in 2024 compared to 2022, as supply chains have become more resilient and interest from utility and corporate [buyers] soars,” the report found. 

The growth of data centers, U.S. manufacturing and the overall electrification of the U.S. economy is expected to increase electricity demand between 4% and 15% through 2029.

The report’s authors expect 2025 installations to remain at similar levels to 2024 “as policy uncertainty partially offsets high demand.”

They predicted 2025 will bring a slight contraction in commercial and community installations that provide solar power to groups of customers. About half of the utility-scale projects expected to come online this year are already under construction.

The residential market is also expected to recover this year, bolstered by homeowners who lease their panels instead of buy them.

The report said President Donald Trump’s executive actions could affect the solar industry. The national energy emergency Trump declared on his first day in office to expedite oil and gas projects could slow approvals for utility-scale solar plants, but “the implementation and impact of this order are still uncertain,” according to the report.

The Department of the Interior directive to pause renewable energy projects on federal lands and U.S. DOGE Service efforts to reduce the federal workforce could also result in delayed solar installations.

Still, the report’s authors expect solar power capacity in the U.S. to more than triple by 2035.