The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), launched 50 years ago, recently outlined the significant milestones in its Solar century: Landmark moments in the history of solar energy, beginning with the first silicon solar cells developed in 1954 in Bell Labs in New Jersey. Much research followed release of the prototype, and then in 1961, the United Nations held a “New Sources of Energy” conference to exchange ideas on the applications of solar, wind and other forms of alternative energy.
The 1970s were a time of unrest in the nation and new focus on the environment that launched the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970. Three years later the first solar home, Solar One, debuted at the University of Delaware.
SEIA was founded in 1974 with the idea that the trade association should support the “prompt, orderly, widespread and open growth of solar energy resources now.” One of its first milestones was to integrate solar energy into the policies of the Carter Administration and in 1978, Congress passed the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act, which promoted renewable energy sources. In 1979, President Carter installed solar modules on the White House.
A few years later, in 1982, the Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO) completed the first utility-scale solar farm in the U.S. in Hesperia, Calif. At just 1.1 MW, ARCO soon followed with a 5.2 MW plant in Carrizo Plain that operated from 1983 to 1994.
In 1983, Minnesota became the first state to enact a net metering law, allowing solar consumers generating less than 40 kW to be compensated for the amount they sent to the grid. According to SEIA, the policy was among the first to incentivize and support the installation of distributed solar energy systems.
The first Solar Power International (SPI) conference (now RE+) took place in California in 2004, attracting 1,000 attendees. The following year the federal Energy Policy Act was passed, which created the first solar investment tax credit.
In 2006 the city of Ellensburg, Washington installed the first-in-the-nation community solar facility. Two years later, in 2008, U.S. solar capacity reached 1 GW.
To increase competition in the U.S. solar industry, the Department of Energy (DOE) launched the SunShot initiative in 2011. The initiative aimed to lower solar energy costs by 75% by the end of the decade, bringing large-scale solar costs on par with other forms of energy. Two years later President Obama installed solar on the White House. In 2013 he released a Climate Action Plan that called for an expansion of clean energy and set ambitious targets for solar power.
2015 was a milestone year: The solar industry surpassed 200,000 workers; Burlington, Vermont was the first city to reach 100% renewable power; and Hawaii was the first state to set a 100% renewable goal.
In 2016, the U.S. solar industry surpassed 1 million installations. The following year utility-scale solar costs fell below $1 per watt and the SunShot initiative goal was achieved three years ahead of schedule.
2022, a pivotal year for U.S. solar saw President Biden sign the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) into law. Considered the largest climate and energy bill in U.S. history, the IRA was the first standalone tax credit for energy storage. The bill also included new incentives for domestic solar manufacturing, resulting in U.S. solar module manufacturing growing from less than 7 GW capacity to 75 GW.
In 2023 solar accounted for over 50% of new electricity capacity added to the grid.
In the first quarter of 2026, the U.S. reached 6 million solar installations and surpassed coal generation for the first time. In the same year the industry saw the return of the entire solar manufacturing supply chain with every component now manufactured in the U.S. Manufacturers now have the capacity to build over 75 GW of solar modules annually, or enough to meet the needs of the entire U.S. market.
2026 was also a landmark year for energy storage. In the second quarter energy storage dispatched 4.5 TW/h hours of electricity, the most ever for a single quarter. A report from SEIA and Benchmark Intelligence found that the energy storage industry installed 20.2 GWh of new capacity in the first half of 2026.
In the past 70 years, solar has become an integral part of the technologies feeding the U.S. grid. In just the past decade, solar’s share of U.S. electricity generation has grown seven-fold, and SEIA expects that solar will continue making up the bulk of new energy additions through and beyond 2060.
For more on the history of solar in the U.S. from the 1960s on, read Upcoming documentary explores the roots of the U.S. solar industry. The documentary debuts at the Solar Roots Party to be held October 30 to November 1 in Grass Valley, Calif.
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