Three out of four Trump voters support expanding solar energy production in the United States, according to a new survey conducted by former Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway's firm. The finding cuts against the lazy assumption that energy policy is a binary culture war, and it points toward something conservatives have argued for years: voters want more energy from more sources, built by American workers, free from Chinese dependency.

The survey, dated February 2026, was conducted by KAConsulting, LLC, on behalf of American Energy First. It polled 1,000 registered and likely voters across Arizona, Florida, Indiana, Ohio, and Texas.

The topline numbers are hard to ignore. Eighty-three percent of all voters agreed that solar energy should be used to strengthen and increase the nation's energy supply. Among Trump voters specifically, that number was 75 percent. The polling memo concluded that "solar energy enjoys broad, durable, and increasingly intense public support."

Voters want power, not ideology

The survey reveals an electorate that is practical about energy, not dogmatic. According to the memo, "attitudes toward energy sources are not polarized; rather, voters are pragmatic, with a strong preference for greater supply and source variety."

As reported by Breitbart, pragmatism shows up in the favorability numbers. Solar energy earned 73 percent favorability overall. Natural gas matched it at 73 percent. Among Trump voters, natural gas led at 83 percent favorable, but solar still commanded 62 percent. Independents favored solar at 75 percent and natural gas at 69 percent.

Nobody here is choosing a team. Voters want the lights on, the bills manageable, and the supply chain American. Fifty-six percent identified economic issues such as inflation, cost of living, and jobs as the top concern for the country. Energy affordability is not a green talking point in these states. It is a kitchen-table issue.

Consider the anxiety underneath the numbers:

• Sixty-one percent worry their state may not have enough power to meet demand for homes, businesses, schools, and hospitals.
• Sixty-nine percent are concerned about their local electric bill, with 34 percent describing themselves as very concerned.
• Eighty-five percent said rising electricity prices trigger concern.
• Eighty-three percent are alarmed by blackout risks and expert warnings.
• Eighty-three percent flagged demand growth exceeding the last three decades combined.
• Seventy-seven percent pointed to turbine backlogs and aging plants.

The memo concludes that voters in these five states view energy shortfalls as both an economic and a strategic vulnerability. That framing matters. This isn't environmentalism. It's national security realism.

The China problem

The strategic dimension sharpens when voters learn who dominates global solar manufacturing. Seventy-two percent of respondents said their concern increases when told that China is producing roughly 150 percent more electricity than the United States.

And here is where the conservative case for American solar becomes unavoidable. The issue was never whether solar panels work. It was who built them and who controls the supply chain. Right now, China commands more than 1,000 gigawatts of solar manufacturing capacity. The United States sits at just over 50 gigawatts. That ratio should offend anyone who takes energy independence seriously.

Eighty percent of respondents said they would be more supportive of expanding solar energy production, knowing the parts are American-made. Among Trump voters, that number ticked even higher: 81 percent.

The message is clear. Build it here, or don't bother talking about it.

Made in Texas, not Guangdong

T1 Energy CEO Dan Barcelo made the case for domestic solar manufacturing in stark terms during comments to Breitbart News on Wednesday, February 11.

"We don't need to make solar panels in China and import them. We can make them in America, we can make them in Texas."

Barcelo discussed the pace of new solar development and how it affects electricity costs once operating on the grid. His argument centered on speed, cost, and the economics of a fuel source that doesn't fluctuate with commodity markets.

"That power is critical right now. It is the fastest to market right now. It has one of the lowest costs of development."

He then pointed to real-world results in Texas, noting that half the state's grid at midday last week ran on solar, at zero marginal cost once the panels are installed and connected. No fuel purchases. No ongoing extraction expenses. Just electrons.

Barcelo framed the opportunity in language that should resonate with anyone who remembers America's rise to dominance in oil and gas production:

"America was not the number one oil producer in the world. It was Saudi. America is now. America was not the number one gas producer. That was Russia. America is now. There's no reason that China is also the number one solar producer now. They don't have to be. America one day can do that."

That is not a green energy argument. It is an American competitiveness argument. The same instinct that drove the shale revolution, that American ingenuity and capital can outproduce any adversary, applies here.

All of the above means all of the above

For years, conservatives have championed an "all of the above" energy strategy. The left co-opted that phrase and then abandoned it, using renewable mandates to kill fossil fuels rather than genuinely expanding supply across every source. That betrayal left many on the right suspicious of solar by association.

But suspicion of the left's motives should not become opposition to American manufacturing. Natural gas and solar are not rivals in these poll numbers. They are allies. Trump voters support both at commanding margins. The voter who wants more pipelines also wants American-made panels on the grid, especially if it means fewer dollars flowing to Beijing.

The left wants to use solar as a weapon against fossil fuels. Conservatives can use solar as a weapon against China. Those are very different projects, and this polling suggests voters understand the distinction even if Washington doesn't.

Only 22 percent of respondents prioritized security issues,s and 14 percent prioritized social issues such as healthcare and childcare. The overwhelming majority, at 56 percent, are focused on the economy. Energy costs sit at the center of that concern. Cheaper, more abundant, American-produced power is not a concession to progressives. It is the agenda voters are demanding.

China built its solar empire with state subsidies, forced labor, and a deliberate strategy to corner a critical market. The answer is not to cede that market. The answer is to take it back.