Investments in co-located solar-plus-storage reach $25 billion in H1, says BloombergNEF

Global spending on renewable energy hit $327.5 billion in the first half of 2026, about flat compared to the previous six months but down 21% from the record set in late 2024. Money is shifting away from stand-alone solar farms, where investment fell 20% year over year, and toward projects that pair solar with battery storage. Investors like these hybrid setups because they can store power and sell it later, rather than losing money when the grid is flooded with cheap solar power at midday.

In the U.S., renewable energy investment jumped 54% from a year earlier, putting the country in second place globally behind China. Solar investment hit a record $45.8 billion and wind investment more than doubled to $13.8 billion, as developers rushed to finish projects before federal tax credits phase out. Projects that still qualify for those credits could keep construction going through 2030. Solar-plus-storage projects, which combine panels with batteries, drew a record $25 billion worldwide, with the U.S. and Australia leading that category.

None of this changes rebates or incentives available to individual homeowners right now, but it points to where the energy system is headed: more batteries paired with solar, both on the grid and, increasingly, at the household level. Analysts expect overall renewable energy installations to dip in 2026 before picking back up in 2027.