Solar energy is used by homeowners, corporations, farmers, utilities, manufacturers, and governments, for purposes ranging from cutting electricity bills to powering remote telecommunications towers. Global installed solar capacity reached roughly 2,250 gigawatts by the end of 2024, growing over 30% in a single year. That growth reflects how many different groups have found practical, cost-effective reasons to capture sunlight.
Homeowners and Residential Users
The most visible solar adopters are homeowners with rooftop panels. The primary motivation is straightforward: lower monthly electricity bills. A residential solar system generates electricity during daylight hours, offsetting what you’d otherwise buy from your utility. Homes with solar installations also tend to sell for more than comparable homes without them, making panels a long-term investment as well as a monthly savings tool.
Beyond electricity, residential solar serves two other common purposes. Solar water heaters use rooftop collectors to warm household water, reducing the energy needed by a conventional water heater. Solar pool heating systems work on a similar principle, circulating pool water through collectors that absorb heat from the sun. Both are solar thermal applications, meaning they capture sunlight as heat rather than converting it to electricity.
A federal tax credit currently covers 30% of the cost of qualified residential solar installations through the end of 2032, which has been a major driver of adoption. You can carry forward any unused portion of the credit to offset taxes in future years, and most state incentives stack on top of the federal one.
Corporations and Large Businesses
Major corporations are among the biggest solar users in the country. Of the top 25 U.S. corporate solar adopters tracked by the Solar Energy Industries Association, 23 have publicly committed to clean energy goals, and 15 of those have pledged to reach 100% renewable energy or better. These companies install massive rooftop and ground-mounted arrays at warehouses, retail stores, offices, and data centers.
The motivations go beyond environmental branding. Commercial electricity rates are high, especially during peak afternoon hours when solar output is strongest. Large arrays help companies shave those peak costs significantly. Apple, for example, has committed to becoming carbon neutral across its entire business and supply chain by 2030. Walmart has targeted emissions-free global operations by the same year. Switch, a data center company, hit 100% renewable energy for its facilities back in 2016 and has maintained it since.
For these companies, solar also hedges against rising energy costs. Locking in electricity generation from owned panels means decades of predictable energy pricing, which matters when energy is one of your largest operating expenses.
Electric Utilities and Grid Operators
Utility-scale solar farms are the fastest-growing source of electricity generation in the United States. These are massive installations, often covering hundreds of acres, that feed power directly into the electrical grid. The U.S. generated roughly 290 billion kilowatt-hours from utility-scale solar in 2025, a figure projected to jump to 424 billion kilowatt-hours by 2027. Combined with wind, solar is expected to account for about 21% of all U.S. electricity generation by that year.
The U.S. ranks third globally in total installed solar capacity at 224 gigawatts, adding 47 gigawatts in 2024 alone. That was a significant jump from 34 gigawatts added the previous year. Utilities build these farms because solar is now one of the cheapest sources of new electricity generation, often beating natural gas on cost per kilowatt-hour even without subsidies.
Farmers and Agricultural Operations
Agriculture has become a rapidly growing solar sector, particularly in regions where grid electricity is unreliable or unavailable. Solar-powered irrigation pumps are transforming smallholder farming in sub-Saharan Africa, where erratic rainfall and limited grid access have historically constrained food production. These systems let farmers pump groundwater for irrigation without depending on diesel fuel or a national power grid, directly improving crop yields and food security in remote areas.
In more developed agricultural markets, farmers use solar for livestock watering systems, electric fencing, barn ventilation, and greenhouse climate control. Some operations combine farming with solar generation through “agrivoltaics,” placing elevated panels above crops or grazing land so the same acreage produces both food and electricity. Solar is particularly well suited to agriculture because farms tend to have large open areas with good sun exposure and high daytime energy needs that align with peak solar production.
Manufacturers and Industrial Users
Industrial process heating accounts for about 70% of U.S. manufacturing energy use. It’s the heat needed to treat, transform, or prepare raw materials, and it’s traditionally powered by natural gas or other fossil fuels. Research from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory found that solar technologies available today could meet a wide range of industrial temperature requirements, delivering 15% to 50% energy savings depending on the application.
The food, beverage, metals, and textiles industries have the highest number of installed solar industrial heating systems so far, because their processes require relatively lower temperatures. Solar thermal collectors can supply heat for cleaning, cooking, pasteurization, and drying operations. Solar can also recover waste heat that would otherwise be lost from equipment and products, improving overall efficiency. These systems are most common in sun-rich regions of the U.S. but the technology works across a broader range of climates than many manufacturers expect.
Remote and Off-Grid Locations
Some of solar energy’s most critical applications are in places the grid doesn’t reach. Telecommunication towers in remote areas have been running on solar panels paired with battery storage for over a decade, replacing the diesel generators that previously kept cell networks alive in off-grid locations. The panels generate electricity during the day, batteries store the surplus, and the stored energy powers the tower overnight.
The same principle applies to remote weather stations, navigational buoys, pipeline monitoring equipment, and rural health clinics. In each case, solar solves a specific problem: the need for reliable electricity where running power lines would be prohibitively expensive. Battery storage has made these systems far more practical, ensuring continuous operation through nights and cloudy stretches.
Electric Vehicle Owners
A growing use case pairs rooftop solar with electric vehicle charging. A solar EV charging system combines panels, an inverter, and a charging station, sometimes with battery storage. The setup lets you charge your car with electricity generated from your own roof rather than drawing from the grid.
These systems can be configured in several ways. A “solar only” setup charges exclusively from panels, ideal for off-grid properties. A “solar plus grid” configuration draws from panels when the sun is shining and switches to grid power when it isn’t. Adding battery storage lets you bank excess solar energy during the day and charge your vehicle in the evening, with storage options holding between 45 and 190 miles of range depending on the battery size. Any surplus energy can flow back to the grid, offsetting other household electricity costs. For EV owners who already have or are considering solar panels, combining the two can effectively eliminate fuel costs entirely.
Two Core Technologies, Different Purposes
All of these applications rely on one of two fundamental solar technologies. Photovoltaic (PV) panels convert sunlight directly into electricity using semiconductor materials. They power homes, businesses, farms, and the grid. PV only generates electricity when the sun is shining, so it’s typically paired with battery storage or a grid connection to ensure a constant power supply.
Solar thermal systems use mirrors or collectors to concentrate sunlight as heat. That heat can warm water directly, as in residential solar water heaters, or drive industrial processes. Solar thermal has a built-in advantage for storage: heat is easier and cheaper to store than electricity, which is why the technology has a long history in utility-scale power generation and is gaining ground in manufacturing. Most residential and commercial installations today are PV, while solar thermal dominates in water heating and industrial applications where heat, not electricity, is the end goal.