US Solar Power Capacity Boom

That 70 GW milestone is a massive leap for the industry, and it marks a turning point where solar is no longer just an "alternative" source—it's becoming the backbone of new American energy.


While utility-scale projects in states like Texas drive those massive gigawatt numbers, Sunrun is a crucial player in the "invisible" side of this growth: Distributed Power.


How Sunrun Fits Into the 2026–2027 Boom


As the nation’s largest residential solar provider, Sunrun is shifting the strategy from just "putting panels on roofs" to creating a massive, interconnected network.

 * The "Virtual Power Plant" (VPP) Era: Sunrun has rapidly expanded its VPP participation, which quintupled in 2025. By early 2026, they have already enrolled over 100,000 customers in programs that allow their home batteries to feed power back into the grid during peak demand.

 * Storage-First Strategy: You can't have 70 GW of new solar without somewhere to put it when the sun goes down. Sunrun’s battery attachment rate has hit a record 70% for new customers. They aren't just selling solar; they are selling grid stability.

 * Dispatchable Capacity: Sunrun currently operates one of the largest "distributed power plants" in the world. In recent grid stress events (like heatwaves in California), they’ve dispatched nearly 18 GWh of energy from customer batteries—helping the grid avoid blackouts without needing to fire up old, "dirty" peaker plants.

 * Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G): Sunrun is also pioneering the use of Ford F-150 Lightning batteries to power homes and support the grid in Maryland, effectively turning electric trucks into mobile power plants that contribute to that growing national capacity.


The Bigger Picture


While the 70 GW figure mostly tracks large-scale solar farms, the growth of companies like Sunrun is what makes that capacity reliable. By 2028, Sunrun expects to have 10 GWh of dispatchable capacity online—roughly the equivalent of several nuclear power plants' worth of peak power, all sourced from American rooftops.


Would you like know if there’s a Sunrun consultant in your area? Send us a message, click this link.



 

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