While solar panels capture record amounts of sunlight, the industry can’t catch a break. Cast into the shadows of Trump’s “Drill, Baby, Drill” pledge, solar power discreetly contributed more US power grid capacity in 2024 than from any other source in over two decades — diverging industry performance from stock prices despite unprecedented energy demands.
- Now seen as a Biden-era relic that Elon Musk championed pre-inauguration, solar power accounted for 84% of grid capacity added last year — a 50GW gain, representing America’s most significant energy addition in 20+ years.
- Despite its power prominence, key players like SolarEdge, Enphase, and Sunrun have plummeted by 78.2%, 52.0%, and 41.4% over the last year, respectively — while the broader S&P 500 gained 9.3%.
Capitol tensions: While Energy Secretary Chris Wright dismisses renewables as playing “only a small role” in the energy mix, an industry report shows that solar technology can already power 40.7M homes. Wright also claims wind and solar drive prices up wherever deployed, while the solar association president points to solar’s affordability and speed of deployment as key advantages — a stark tension between political rhetoric and the sector’s positioning.
