Is solar worth it in Kansas in 2026?

How Kansas pays for your solar power

Net metering at the retail rate. Evergy and Liberty must offer net metering: imports and exports are netted each billing period at the retail rate, and only the month's surplus is credited at the utility's system average cost of energy.

In the calculator, 40% of your solar output is used at home at the retail price and the rest is exported at about 100% of retail (our default for this kind of rule), so each solar kWh is worth 100% of the retail price on average. Change it if your utility pays more or less. Method

State or utility incentive	What it is worth
Renewable energy property tax exemption	10 taxable years of exemption for solar generating property

How exports are credited

Kansas has a statewide net metering law, the Net Metering and Easy Connection Act (K.S.A. 66-1263 to 66-1271). Within each billing period, exports offset imports one for one at the retail rate; only the surplus left at the end of the period is credited at a lower rate. The Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) says Evergy and Liberty Utilities (Empire District) must offer net metering. Electric cooperatives and municipal utilities are not required to, though some do.

For a customer who began operating a system on or after July 1, 2014, K.S.A. 66-1266 says net excess generation at the end of each billing period is credited “at a rate of at least 100% of the utility’s monthly system average cost of energy per kilowatt hour.” That is the utility’s own energy cost, well below the retail rate that also covers delivery and fixed costs. The statute sets the floor, not a number: ask Evergy or Liberty for the current monthly figure.

If the utility supplies more than you export in a billing period, you pay for the net amount. If you export more, the credit is applied to the next bill. Only systems operating before July 1, 2014 bank kilowatt-hours one-to-one, and their leftover credit expires each March 31.

Customers on an optional time-of-use rate who started on or after July 1, 2024 are netted separately in each time-of-use period (K.S.A. 66-1266(d)). Utilities must offer net metering first-come, first-served until net metered capacity reaches a share of peak demand: 4% from July 1, 2026 and 5% from July 1, 2027 (K.S.A. 66-1265).

State incentives in 2026

• Property tax exemption. K.S.A. 79-201 (Eleventh) exempts property used predominantly to generate electricity from renewable sources, including solar and photovoltaic. For applications filed after December 31, 2016, the exemption runs for the 10 taxable years after installation is completed. An application for exemption has to be filed.
• No statewide residential solar rebate or state income tax credit was found. Rebates tied to Evergy are a Missouri program, not a Kansas one.

The federal residential credit ended for systems installed after December 31, 2025. See why the federal credit ended.

What it means for payback

Exports that offset your own usage in the same billing period are worth the full retail rate, so a system sized to each month’s consumption gets close to full value. What loses value is the surplus: kilowatt-hours left over at the end of a sunny month are credited only at the utility’s energy cost. Size to your annual use without overshooting the summer months. The statute reinforces this: from 2026 the panels’ rated capacity cannot exceed the approved export capacity by more than 50%, and the export capacity itself is sized from your last 12 months of use.

A battery stores midday output for the evening instead of sending it out at the low credit. Whether that pays depends on its price. See are solar batteries worth it and net metering vs net billing. Our method is in how we calculate payback.

Other rules worth knowing

• System size. New systems can export up to 150 kW AC. Export capacity is sized by dividing 12 months of consumption by 8,760 hours and then by a 0.144 capacity factor, rounded up to the next 2 kW step up to 20 kW (K.S.A. 66-1267).
• Export limiting. Systems that generate more than they export must use an owner-maintained export limiting device, and the utility may witness-test it.
• Storage. For systems operating from January 1, 2026, battery and EV storage capacity does not count in sizing unless it adds export capacity.
• Meter. The utility provides a bidirectional meter at no charge, but may charge for extra metering or distribution equipment (K.S.A. 66-1265). Utilities may also propose time-of-use rates or minimum bills for post-2014 customer-generators.
• Solar easements. A solar easement must be in writing and recorded with the county register of deeds (K.S.A. 58-3801).
• Co-ops and municipals. Customers of cooperatives and municipal utilities should ask their utility for its own terms.

Berkeley Lab does not publish a Kansas median from enough systems, so the calculator starts from the U.S. median of $3.60/W. Put your own quote in.