Is solar worth it in Detroit in 2026?
A roof in Detroit produces about 1,249 kWh a year per kW of panels. For a home with a $150 monthly bill, a 6.7 kW system costs about $24,097 at Michigan's median price and pays for itself in roughly 20.0 years, with no federal tax credit.
1,249kWh per kW a year
Source: PVGIS, NSRDB data
21.5¢per kWh
Source: EIA, 2026 year to date
$3.60per watt
Source: Berkeley Lab
Calculator · 2026 data, no federal tax credit
How long would solar take to pay for itself?
Simple payback
20.0 years
- System size
- 6.7 kW
- Installed cost
- $24,097
- Savings, year one
- $1,206
- Net over 25 years
- $4,311
Sized to cover your yearly use at today's price. Panels lose 0.5% a year; prices held flat. Method
How Detroit homes get paid for solar
Export rules are set at the state and utility level, not by the city. Detroit is under Michigan's net billing: Michigan's Distributed Generation program bills inflow at full retail and credits outflow at the power supply rate minus transmission; it replaced net metering in 2019 (DTE) and 2021 (Consumers). The full rules, incentives and sources are on theMichigan page.
Why the city matters
Two things change from one city to another in the same state: the sun, which sets how many panels you need, and the utility, which sets what exported power is worth. Detroit gets 1,249 kWh per kW a year on a south-facing roof at a 20° tilt, so covering a year of use for a $150 bill at 21.5¢ takes about 6.7 kW, roughly 17 panels of 400 W. Electricity prices in the calculator are the Michigan residential average; your utility's rate can be higher or lower, so put your own bill in.
Method: how we calculate payback. Compare all states in theranking or size a system with the panel calculator.