The time has arrived: Solar power just passed coal for energy production. It feels great to see measured progress that’s good for our health, good for the environment, and actually costs less. If you factor in the occasional grid disruption from major storms, solar is also more reliable.
Garden Atrium homes come with 3kWh solar arrays, which provide enough power for the average family. Garden Atrium home owners who drive electric have a 5kWh array. It powers the home and car. That increases savings even, more and … eliminates the emissions that are causing global warming.
It’s gratifying to know this change is happening … despite federal pressure.
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For first time, Americans are getting more of their electricity from solar than coal
Solar provides more than twice the share
of electricity it did five years ago.
Tik Root
Grist
Jun 10, 2026
Solar energy just provided more electricity in the United States than coal for the first time on record — marking a milestone for the rise of renewables in America.
While gas and nuclear plants still lead the country’s energy mix, solar contributed 12.8 percent of the nation’s electrons in May, according to an analysis of government data by Ember, an energy think tank. Coal, meanwhile, provided just 12.2 percent. Just five years ago, solar was less than half of its current levels and coal was at 20 percent.
Nicolas Fulghum, senior data analyst at Ember, in a press release, said …
“Overtaking coal for the first month on
record shows just how far solar has come,
from a niche contributor to the third-lar-
gest and fastest-growing source of power
in the U.S. electricity system,” From Texas
to California, markets across the U.S. are
betting on solar to meet rising power needs.”
The turnaround comes even as political headwinds have shifted against renewable energy.
Last summer, Congress passed the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” which rolled back enormous swaths of former President Joe Biden’s landmark climate change legislation, the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. And President Donald Trump has actively sought to hinder renewable energy development, even offering to pay at least one oil company $1 billion to stop building its offshore wind projects.
The latest electricity data comes the same month that the Trump administration announced $700 million in funding for investments in the coal industry. It included money for what would be the country’s first new coal-fired power plants in 13 years — sourced from funds previously dedicated to reducing the country’s dependence on fossil fuels, not deepening it.
“Today we’re taking historic action to bring down
the price of energy and the cost of living for all
Americans with the power of clean, beautiful coal,”
… said Trump, who campaigned on the coal-friendly slogan ‘dig, baby, dig.”
Ember’s analysis found that coal generation in May was actually up slightly from April, when it hit an all-time low. Its share of the grid will also likely tick up in the summer, as cooling needs peak. But the steady downward trend over the last several years suggests that even all the president’s men might not be able to put the coal industry back together again.
“Spending $700 million to bail out the coal industry is
like throwing a lifeline to a ship that has already sunk,”
… Lena Moffitt, executive director of the environmental group Evergreen Action, told the Associated Press. Rich Nolan, president and CEO of the National Mining Association disagreed, telling the AP that coal generation helps shield consumers from the impacts of volatile energy prices and supply challenges exacerbated by AI.
Regardless of what coal does, experts believe the solar market will continue its upward march. While installations dropped in 2025 compared to 2024, according to the Solar Energy Industry Association, it still accounted for more than half of all newly installed electricity capacity. Even MAGA influencers are promoting it.
Patrick Drupp, director of climate policy at the Sierra Club, said …
“We’re going to just keep seeing more and
more renewables brought onto the grid.
That’s good for people’s wallets, it’s good
for their health, it’s good for the planet.”
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What can existing homes – built years ago before solar panels were so inexpensive and readily installed – do? I recently ran some numbers, using Google averages for monthly power bills, monthly power needs, and monthly cost of solar panels. (I assumed homeowners bought their home with a mortgage, and assumed the cost of the solar panels to also be part of mortgage payments.) The financial savings were considerable. The catch: You need full sun hitting somewhere on your home or site.
Other savings: eliminate natural gas cooktops and switch to in induction electric. It uses such little power that no added panels are needed. Eliminating natural gas also eliminates harmful air-borne toxins, such as benzine, that emit into your home … even when the stove is off.
