2026 · after the federal tax credit ended
Is solar still worth it in your state?
The 30% federal credit is gone for systems installed after 31 December 2025. What is left is the math: how much sun you get, what your utility charges and pays, and what installers charge. We run it for 50 states with official data, and you can run it for your own bill.
Calculator · 2026 data, no federal tax credit
How long would solar take to pay for itself?
Simple payback
11.4 years
- System size
- 3.2 kW
- Installed cost
- $10,659
- Savings, year one
- $936
- Net over 25 years
- $11,389
Sized to cover your yearly use at today's price. Panels lose 0.5% a year; prices held flat. Method
Payback by state
For a home with a $150 monthly bill, sized to cover its yearly use, at each state's median installed cost and export rules. Shorter bars pay back faster.
- Hawaii8.0 yrs
- Massachusetts8.6 yrs
- Maine9.4 yrs
- Rhode Island9.4 yrs
- Connecticut10.3 yrs
- New York10.4 yrs
- New Hampshire10.6 yrs
- California11.4 yrs
- New Jersey11.6 yrs
- Pennsylvania13.0 yrs
- New Mexico13.2 yrs
- Florida13.6 yrs
- Colorado13.7 yrs
- Maryland14.0 yrs
- Alaska14.7 yrs
- Virginia15.0 yrs
- Delaware15.2 yrs
- Kansas15.7 yrs
- Vermont15.8 yrs
- Wyoming16.6 yrs
- Oklahoma17.2 yrs
- Minnesota17.2 yrs
- Nevada17.7 yrs
- Arizona18.3 yrs
- Missouri18.5 yrs
- Washington18.6 yrs
- Iowa18.7 yrs
- Montana19.4 yrs
- Oregon19.8 yrs
- South Carolina19.9 yrs
- Michigan20.0 yrs
- Nebraska20.3 yrs
- North Carolina21.9 yrs
- Georgia23.4 yrs
- North Dakota23.7 yrs
- West Virginia24.6 yrs
- Ohio24.9 yrs
- Illinois25.7 yrs
- Mississippi25.7 yrs
- Kentucky26.7 yrs
- Indiana27.7 yrs
- Alabama28.4 yrs
- Texas29.7 yrs
- Utah30.6 yrs
- Wisconsin30.9 yrs
- Idaho31.6 yrs
- Louisiana32.6 yrs
- Arkansas33.9 yrs
- South Dakota34.4 yrs
- Tennessee36.7 yrs
Full ranking with savings, and the data as CSV. Electricity prices: EIA Electric Power Monthly, table 5.6.B, residential average price, July 2026 YTD. Production: PVGIS 5.2 (European Commission Joint Research Centre) with NSRDB solar radiation data. Installed cost: Berkeley Lab, Distributed Solar & Storage: 2026 Data Update (median installed price, host-owned residential PV installed in 2025). How we calculate.
Solar by city
The same math with each city's own sunshine, and its utility's rules where we have checked them.
Guides
- Federal Solar Tax Credit in 2026: Ended for Homeowners After 2025
The 30% residential credit ended for expenditures made after December 31, 2025. What the law and the IRS say, what still exists, and the effect on payback.
- Net Metering vs Net Billing: Why Export Rates Decide Solar Savings
Net metering credits solar exports at the retail rate. Net billing pays less. See how California and Arizona set export rates and how batteries change it.
- Are Solar Batteries Worth It in 2026?
When a home battery pays off with solar: net billing, time-of-use rates and outages, plus the end of the federal credit and what storage adds to the price.
- Solar Lease vs Buy: Cash, Loan, Lease and PPA Compared
How cash, loan, lease and PPA solar compare in 2026: Berkeley Lab prices, the end of the homeowner credit, and questions to ask before signing.
- How We Calculate Solar Payback: Data, Formula and Limits
The data sources, formula and assumptions behind every payback figure on Solar by State, and what the calculator leaves out on purpose.