Top 10 US States by Installed Solar Photovoltaic Nameplate Capacity
PlainSolarData ranks the 50 US states plus the District of Columbia by total installed solar photovoltaic nameplate capacity (MW-AC) as reported by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Draws current numbers directly from the states dataset.
Research period:
Research question
Across the 50 US states and DC, which states have built the largest installed-capacity footprints of utility-scale and distributed solar PV generation, and how does the ranking reflect each state's policy environment, irradiance resource, and electricity market structure?
Methodology
This ranking is generated fresh from the current dataset from the U.S. Energy Information Administration every time the page loads, not a fixed figure typed in once and forgotten. When a new release is published, our next data refresh picks it up automatically.
States with no data reported are left out rather than shown as a false zero, since the U.S. Energy Information Administration occasionally withholds a figure for data-quality reasons.
Every number on this page traces back to a specific record from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, so you can verify it yourself against the original source. See the methodology page for the full data pipeline and how often we refresh.
Top 10 US States by Installed Solar Photovoltaic Nameplate Capacity
Live data, current as of the most recent source-data refresh
The ranked top 10
Every row below reflects the current dataset from the U.S. Energy Information Administration and updates automatically the next time we refresh it.
| # | State | Installed capacity (MW) | First reporting year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | 22,563 | 1,990 |
| 2 | Texas | 22,466 | 1,990 |
| 3 | Florida | 10,952 | 2,009 |
| 4 | North Carolina | 6,785 | 2,008 |
| 5 | Arizona | 5,337 | 1,997 |
| 6 | Nevada | 5,285 | 2,007 |
| 7 | Georgia | 5,014 | 2,012 |
| 8 | Virginia | 4,691 | 1,990 |
| 9 | Ohio | 3,238 | 2,010 |
| 10 | Illinois | 2,954 | 2,009 |
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, EIA Form 860, Annual Electric Generator Report (solar PV nameplate capacity). Values are current as of our most recent data refresh. U.S. Energy Information Administration, EIA Form 860, Annual Electric Generator Report (solar PV nameplate capacity). Values are current as of our most recent data refresh.
Findings
Top entity in the ranking
The top-ranked record in this dataset is California, with a value of 22,563 on the Installed capacity (MW) column. The full top-10 set is rendered in the table above. Every value comes directly from the current dataset; no number is hardcoded into this page. When the source agency publishes a revision, the ranking and the prose around it update automatically.
Distribution shape
The gap between the top-ranked record (22,563) and the 10th-ranked record (2,954) characterizes how concentrated the top of the distribution is. Where the top value is many multiples of the median value of the visible set, the population is highly concentrated, a small number of entities accumulate the bulk of the measured quantity. Where the top and bottom of the visible set are close together, the distribution is relatively flat across the top end. The full distribution beyond this top-10 cut is summarized in the aggregate context section below and explored in the linked entity profiles.
Aggregate context
Across the full population behind this ranking, here are the summary statistics: how many records exist in total, the sum of the ranking metric across all qualifying records, and the mean per-record value. The methodology page documents the exact filter applied (records with null or zero values on the ranking metric are excluded). This aggregate row is computed from the same dataset that powers the ranking above.
Source provenance
The records in this ranking originate from U.S. Energy Information Administration, specifically the EIA Form 860, Annual Electric Generator Report (solar PV nameplate capacity). PlainSolarData ingests each new release and republishes the figures here automatically, so this page always reflects the current dataset rather than a fixed snapshot. The methodology page documents the source URL, the vintage date, and the transformation steps applied during ETL.
Why this ranking matters
Rankings like this one let a reader scan a population quickly and identify outliers, concentrations, and patterns that warrant deeper investigation. The detail pages linked from each entity in the table above give the full per-entity context: time-series history where available, related metrics from adjacent tables, and links onward to the underlying source records. The methodology page explains how an entity earns inclusion in the dataset and how the ranking column is computed at the source.
What this analysis cannot tell us
Installed-capacity figures are nameplate (rated) AC capacity reported on EIA Form 860 by utility-scale facility operators and distributed-generation aggregators. Nameplate capacity is a hardware specification and not a direct measure of annual energy generation, which is governed by capacity factor (typically 16–28% for solar PV), interconnection availability, and curtailment policy. States with strong solar resource (Southwest), aggressive policy support (California's RPS and net-metering history, New York's NY-SUN, New Jersey's SRECs), or large utility-scale industrial buildouts (Texas, Florida) sit at the top. State rankings are sensitive to which year of the EIA series is observed; commissioning timing and reporting deadlines move state totals by hundreds of MW between annual releases. 5-year growth percentages are sensitive to the small-base effect, a state with a 5 MW starting point can show 1000% growth on a 50 MW addition. Distinguishing absolute build-out (Top by capacity) from acceleration (Top by growth %) gives a more complete picture of the market.
Secondary cut from the same source
Top 10 states by 5-year capacity growth percentage (filters small-base states that grew on low starting points)
Sources
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-860 (Annual Electric Generator Report) - https://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/eia860/
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Monthly - https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/