Texas pays about 14.7¢ per kilowatt-hour for residential electricity and receives about 5.4 kWh per square metre per day of sunlight — 27th and 7th respectively among the 50 states and DC tracked here. Those two numbers set the ceiling on what rooftop solar returns in Texas, and they point in opposite directions.
Where Texas sits against the rest of the country
Texas is 0.1¢/kWh below the median residential rate across this dataset (14.8¢/kWh) and 0.8 kWh/m²/day above the median insolation (4.6 kWh/m²/day). Under this site's standard assumptions, that combination puts Texas 16th of 51 for modeled payback speed, at 12.3 years against a dataset median of 13.5 years.
What actually drives payback in Texas
Texas is sunlight-led: 7th for insolation but only 27th for electricity price. Swap Texas's sunlight for the dataset median and payback moves to 14.1 years (1.8 years of swing). Swap its electricity rate instead and payback moves to 12.2 years (0.1 years of swing). The sunlight swap is the larger of the two, so how much sun the roof gets is the input deciding the outcome in Texas.
State incentives on record
Recorded for Texas: No statewide tax credit; utility-specific rebates (Oncor, AEP, CenterPoint) and retail provider buyback plans (Green Mountain, Octopus, Rhythm) replace traditional net metering; property tax exemption; ERCOT grid does not require utility approval for most residential interconnection.
No federal credit is applied above (Section 25D expired 31 December 2025), and export terms often matter more than the headline rate (net metering guide).
The modeled system, in numbers
At Texas's sunlight level a 7 kW array produces roughly 10,762 kWh a year, worth about $1,582 in first-year bill savings at 14.7¢/kWh against an assumed $22,400 installed cost. A ten-year payback at this sunlight level would require a residential rate of about 18.6¢/kWh, which is 3.9¢ above what Texas households pay today.
States with comparable economics
Texas's closest analogues by modeled payback are Michigan (12.3 years), Florida (12.1 years), Maryland (12.4 years). They arrive there from different rate and sunlight combinations, so their incentive rows are the useful comparison.
- Michigan — modeled payback 12.3 years
- Florida — modeled payback 12.1 years
- Maryland — modeled payback 12.4 years
Texas-specific notes
Texas has no statewide solar tax credit and no traditional retail net metering — the buyback rate is set by your retail electricity provider, not by a commission. Comparing plans with explicit solar buyback is part of the install decision rather than an afterthought, and it can move the effective rate well away from the state average used above.