In May 2026, solar broke a record by doing something it had never done before in the United States: it generated more electricity than coal. According to data analyzed by energy think tank Ember, solar contributed 12.8% of the country’s electricity in May, beating out coal’s 12.2%. Additionally, solar became the third-largest source of power in the U.S., behind natural gas and nuclear.
Such a milestone provides a welcome stroke of validity to the industry. A win like this, though, measures capacity that’s already built, commissioned, and generating revenue. It doesn’t project the solar farms under construction or what the next broken record will look like. And it doesn’t say anything about whether the physical security plans for solar sites are keeping pace with how fast the industry is growing.
Solar buildout continues despite obstacles
The solar industry hasn’t experienced linear growth, and interruptions in policy can affect how the industry is set to continue growing. According to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), more than 450 solar and storage projects were bottlenecked by a slowdown in permitting.
Still, such numbers point to the industry’s sustained growth. The SEIA also projects continued growth in residential markets between 2027 and 2031.
On the ground, that means that many new construction sites across the country, starting from bare fields, will pop up for years to come. That’s the environment security planning must operate in: not after-the-fact reviews but in a forward-looking, preventative strategy, because growing industries often attract the roving eyes of thieves and vandals.
Protecting a site during construction
Often, the greatest exposure for a solar farm is during construction, before permanent power, fencing, and staff are in place. During this phase, equipment, panels, and copper wiring are sitting on an open site with little to slow a bad actor down.
The fence perimeter that will eventually circumvent a finished site (if implemented at all) is often not yet erected, or if it is, it only exists in sections, leaving the most theft-prone materials open to the elements and to the thieves hungry for a quick profit.
In May of this year, a man was charged with stealing 2,000 feet of copper wiring and dozens of connectors from two solar farms in North Carolina after cutting through perimeter fencing. Losses on two different sites amounted to $11,000.
Traditional security measures for sites, such as fencing, lightning, and warning signage, all still matter, but their fail point is twofold: they’re designed for finished sites and they lack an additional preventative measure.
For remote solar sites under construction, a comprehensive security strategy must exist before the panels and copper arrive. It can’t wait until the day the site goes live.
Rightsizing physical security
Scale presents a particular problem. Security plans designed for 10-acre solar farms don’t apply at 500 acres. They break. A handful of cameras and a light monitoring routine might be enough to adequately cover a 10-acre site, but if you multiply that footprint by fifty, the math doesn’t scale in a straight line. Camera count, monitoring load, and response protocols all have to be redesigned, not simply expanded.
Ten times the perimeter doesn’t mean you need ten times the cameras. It means you need a monitoring approach that can still distinguish a legitimate, after-hours technician from an intruder on a site of that size. And you still need to be able to respond in seconds rather than minutes or more.
Proactive security that grows with the site
Often, many businesses won’t invest in a proactive security strategy until an incident resulting in monetary loss forces their hand. A truly proactive security strategy is a layered one. In practice, that means combining multiple tools, technologies, and obstacles to create a robust system that not only catches thieves in action but deters them and prevents crime.
This can start with perimeter fences and incorporates cameras. In today’s security, monitored units are preferable to simple record-and-store cameras. Video surveillance tools can either be fixed (for sites with ready access to internet, places with brick-and-mortar buildings) or mobile (which are better for remote areas that lack access to Wi-Fi).
For solar farms, mobile surveillance units tend to work better as they provide connected access for remote areas and can be moved to support a continuously evolving strategy. Because they don’t require permanent power or wiring, mobile surveillance units can accompany a solar site at any stage: from the early days of construction through to daily operation once construction is complete and the site is in full swing.
As the project’s surface area expands during construction, additional mobile units can be deployed to keep eyes on the riskiest entry points simultaneously.
But it’s what occurs on the other side of those camera lenses that turns a reactive security strategy into a proactive one. Mobile surveillance units are equipped with AI-powered detection which is trained to distinguish between an access-permitted contractor and a would-be thief cutting through the fence line.
When detection is escalated for a threat, a trained human monitor confirms that a threat is in fact on the premises, and they can cue audio and visual deterrents to ward off the thief.
As a site grows, having this layered strategy ensures a methodical and pragmatic approach to a solar farm’s physical security, helping to deter thieves before they intend to act. And when a site is complete and fully operational, a layered security strategy helps to prevent damage, theft, and loss.
Solar overtaking coal in May was a big moment, and it’s a clue into the growth the industry is set to experience. As the industry continues to expand, the target on its back grows as well. With projects set to take place, the time to invest in a proactive security strategy is before the project breaks ground, not after an incident occurs.
Author Bio:
Jeremy White founded Pro-Vigil in 2006 and helped to pioneer the remote video monitoring industry. His entrepreneurial spirit and leadership style has been key in the success of Pro-Vigil and the industry as a whole. Pro-Vigil is a provider of AI-enabled remote video monitoring solutions.
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: [email protected].
Comments
Please login to comment
Tuesday, August 18, 2026
1:00 pm – 2:00 pm EDT, New York City
Tuesday, August 11, 2026
3:00 pm – 4:00 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid
Thursday, July 30, 2026
4:00 pm – 5:00 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid
Thursday, July 16, 2026
4:00 pm – 5:00 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid
The June issue of pv magazine Global is out now!
Available in print and digital – get your copy today!
Thursday, October 7, 2026
11:00 am – 12:30 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid
A two-day conference in Austin, Texas, bringing together leaders in US solar manufacturing, equipment specification, and factory execution.
Entries open in seven categories: Modules, Inverters, BoS, BESS, Manufacturing, Sustainability, Projects.
April 01 – August 31, 2026
pv magazine USA hosts its third multi-day virtual event on advancing U.S. solar and energy storage markets, covering financing, supply chains, and distributed energy’s role in grid resilience.
You have no items in your basket.
