View a distribution of wind turbine locations across the US.

Distributed wind turbines efficiently serve on-site energy needs, while land-based turbines are large and generate cost-competitive electricity. Offshore wind turbines capture powerful winds above the ocean and may be pounded into the seafloor using pile drivers or built to float above water at scales larger than the Statue of Liberty.

Between January and November 2024, over 1,700 tornadoes were documented to have touched down in the US, a relatively high number (and similar to the numbers in 2004, 2008, and 2011). This map shows their location across the country to help capture the number.

From 2012 to 2020, less than 0.05% of available US farmland had commercial wind turbines installed. More than 95% of this land lacks wind farm structures such as turbine pads or roads, leaving most cropland and pasture-rangeland unchanged.

Environmental impact studies, wind energy maps, anemometer data, and local, state, and federal regulations factor into wind farm projects, including offshore farms. Wind projects on public lands require additional permitting.

One of the biggest challenges to deploying solar panels is whether electricity can be generated reliably when needed, day after day. This detailed interactive map calculates the solar power output potential of regions worldwide and provides a visual comparison between locations such as North Africa and the US Midwest.

Thousands of data centers across the country have already been built, with more under construction or planned. Facilities are connected via transmission and fiber optic lines, with the latter spanning an estimated length of 160 million miles.

Want to understand the basics of America’s current energy situation? The National Academies, advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine, provides objective information about the United States’ current energy sources and uses, as well as a look forward to the future of energy.

The Solar Energy Industries Association provides charts summarizing the state of solar energy in the US, including cumulative solar installations, solar jobs, photovoltaic pricing and deployment, and inflation and supply chain constraints within the market.

Wind turbines' energy generation capacity—or maximum power rating—also increased by 375% from 1998 to 2023. As of that year, wind turbines can produce more energy per dollar than solar panels, though transportation and installation challenges remain.

Learn more about the wind industry, from how a wind turbine works, to the new and exciting research in the field of wind energy.

In 2023, these reactors—located in 53 plants across 28 states—prevented 437 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions. A single fingertip-sized uranium pellet generates as much electricity as a ton of coal, enough for one household's annual electricity.

Browse frequently asked questions about renewables, from the amount of energy production by state to the cost of electricity generation by power source.

The state you live in can drastically change how much solar energy you can expect to capture to power your home. These National Laboratory of the Rockies maps show where you can reliably generate solar resources.

Wind turbines have powered homes since 1887, and today they’re stronger, quieter, and more reliable than ever. Offshore wind could power millions and grow fast enough to meet climate goals.

Wind turbine towers are typically hollow, housing only cables and a ladder for maintenance access. The excess electricity a wind turbine collects could power a stack of server racks more than 100 meters (328 feet) high within its tower.

The Open Infrastructure Map displays data from the OpenStreetMap database, which aggregates information from freely licensed geodata sources, surveys, and photographic and satellite imagery. It also displays power lines, generators, substations, various chemical pipelines, telecommunications towers, data centers, and more in daytime and nighttime maps.

These charts show how the shares of generated electricity sources—solar, wind, hydro, nuclear, bioenergy, oil, gas, and coal—have changed since 1985. Since 2010, an increase in renewable sources has offset the share lost by nuclear and fossil fuels.

Several metrics, including wind speed, pressure, damage costs, and casualties, may be used to define the most devastating hurricanes. This page provides the top 10 hurricanes across each of these sorting methods.

Discover the one-day snowfall records of every county in the US in this comprehensive map. Data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration captures inches of snowfall and the year it fell the most in each county. See the contrasts between the inches of snowfall in warm southern American states and the cooler East Coast.

This tool provides live maps of wind, rain, thunderstorms, and other atmospheric phenomena overlayed on an interactive map of the Earth. Users can enter their location to explore local atmospheric dynamics and review historical weather conditions dating back to 1979.

These are made up of utilities, Power Marketing Administrations—hydropower marketers from the Department of Energy—and groups of utilities that have formed regional entities called Regional Transmission Organizations or Independent System Operators. Collectively, balancing authorities ensure supply meets demand and can direct utilities to implement rolling blackouts to prevent permanent damage to electrical equipment.

The US Department of Energy’s Renewable Energy Discovery (REDi) Island invite explorers to discover clean, renewable energy options by navigating a virtual island filled with energy efficient power generation and desalinization technologies.

Using a drone, Chinese photographer Weimin Chu captured the deployment of solar and wind power installations across the country, which accounted for half of all global installations in 2025. The images show modern infrastructure juxtaposed with natural landscapes and was featured in an award-winning exhibition presented by Greenpeace in 2025.

This National Renewable Energy Laboratory visualization provides maximum confirmed efficiencies for nearly 30 research PV cell technologies from August 1975 to today. Concentrator multi-junction cells have led the field since 1993. (Desktop recommended site.)

This tool from the Clean Air Task Force allows users to see the location of geothermal power systems to depths of 12.5 kilometers (7.8 miles), where temperatures reach about 450 degrees Celsius (842 degrees Fahrenheit), including proposed, abandoned, and in-development projects.

The NOAA's historical hurricane tracker lets you explore over 150 years of data to see where hurricanes traveled and made landfall. The tool lets you search by location, name, or year; create maps and tables; and read NOAA storm reports.

The proliferation of misinformation and conspiracy theories surrounding wind farms is driven by deep-seated anxieties about change, distrust of government, and resistance to confronting the complexities of modern energy solutions.

Manufacturing larger, more powerful turbines will result in future wind farms requiring fewer of them to meet energy demands. Larger turbines will meet these demands while rotating at lower speeds, reducing risks to avian wildlife.

The US is now home to the world's largest stock market, but that wasn't always the case. This data visualization shows where the largest stock markets in the world were in 1900, then compares that map to the current geographical distribution of stock markets today, based on each country’s percentage share of global market capitalization. See what it looks like by clicking here.

This community-driven platform—created by Tesla enthusiasts—provides information on site statuses, power levels, and plug types across nearly 8,000 stations worldwide.

Despite being able to generate electricity regardless of the weather, solar (28%) and wind (27%) are far more prevalent, primarily because of their lower upfront costs. Geothermal plants use 88% less space than solar farms to produce the same energy, but have been restricted to geologically active regions.

Using data from NOAA and the UK Met Office, these maps identify South America as the geographic region with the highest average turbulence. The most turbulent flights in North America are all found in the western United States.

Odd-numbered blade values more evenly distribute wind loads across the face of rotors, reducing bending and twisting forces on the turbine that cause wear. Modeling shows that three blades optimize efficiency and cost for everyday wind speeds.

An electric vehicle owner's main fear running out of power before getting to their final destination. Using this interactive, users may identify stations and their charger type to map fuel corridors for EV road trips.

What world record does your state hold? Check out this map of the United States to see what weird accomplishment took place near you.

The first of Tesla's large-scale European manufacturing plants for its electric vehicles was opened in Berlin in 2022. It—along with other facilities in Nevada, New York, Texas, and Shanghai—collectively manufactures solar panels, batteries, and other energy collection and storage products.