US small solar generation quadruples over decade
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Across the United States, small-scale solar generation, from rooftop photovoltaic systems under 1 megawatt, increased from 18,812 gigawatthours to 92,979 gigawatthours in the last ten years.
This growth occurred especially in states with plentiful sunlight like California, Arizona, Texas, and Florida. However, New York achieved high growth despite lower solar resources through technology improvements and state incentives. California led the country with 37% of total US small-scale solar generation in 2025, increasing its output by 8% between 2024 and 2025.
Arizona followed, contributing over 6% of the national total. States like Texas and Florida saw rapid expansion in small-scale solar over the decade, aided by incentives like property tax exemptions. Changes to programs supporting rooftop solar also influenced this increase. For example, California’s earlier Net Energy Metering (NEM) 2.0 program, which offered better compensation for excess energy, encouraged installations before it was replaced by NEM 3.0. While generation continues to rise, the rate of growth has slowed since 2022.
The US Energy Information Administration estimates generation by using surveys of utilities and models like the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s System Advisor Model and PVWatts.
