Utility-scale solar developers are increasingly co-locating battery storage with new solar photovoltaic capacity.
As of September 2026, over 16% of new utility-scale solar capacity added this year is co-located with operable battery storage, compared with 2% in 2017, according to data reported to EIA by operators
Reported plans for solar additions scheduled to come online in the last three months of this year show that the share with co-located battery storage could increase to 19% this year. Longer-term plans indicate that this trend will continue, with the portion increasing to more than 30% in plans submitted for 2027 and 2028. When operators co-locate battery storage with solar, they can direct solar electricity output to the grid or to the battery, depending on the wholesale prices.
Wholesale prices in regions with large solar participation tend to fall when solar contributions are high and rise as they decrease. Plants with both solar and battery storage can manage the combined output of their generating resources to maximize their value in a changing wholesale price environment. We publish unit-level generator inventory data based on our annual and monthly data collections, including information on design attributes for all utility-scale plants.