Solar payback by state — all 51 records

Hawaiian Electric launched Smart Renewable Energy (Smart DER) on April 1, 2024, replacing earlier rooftop programs except legacy NEM. Its Smart Renewable Energy Export program publishes time-of-day export rates for 2024-2026 instead of paying the statewide retail average: daytime (9am-5pm) exports earn 13.5 cents/kWh on Oahu, 6.6 on Maui and 10.6 on Hawaii Island. Leftover export credits expire at the annual true-up. CGS, CGS Plus and Smart Export customers transition seven years after their initial contract date. Kauai (KIUC) is not covered. This row does not assess tax-credit eligibility.

Export tariff, not a rebate: since April 15, 2023, new PG&E, SCE and SDG&E solar customers take the net billing tariff (Decision 22-12-056), which credits exports at Avoided Cost Calculator values that vary with grid needs rather than at retail. PG&E and SCE residential applicants before the end of 2027 get a nine-year export adder; SDG&E customers do not. The only residential SGIP budget on CPUC's page not marked available through 2025, the Residential Solar and Storage Equity budget, is for low-income customers. No incentive amount is asserted for a typical household.

SMART 3.0 pays a flat incentive for systems of 25 kW AC or less: 3 cents/kWh in 2026, or 6 cents for qualifying low-income customers, fixed for 20 years (MassCEC guide, June 10, 2026; National Grid tariff M.D.P.U. 1644, effective July 1, 2026). It is open to Eversource, National Grid and Unitil customers, not homes served by a municipal light plant. SMART 3.0 is the 2025 update of the program that began in November 2018. Separately, M.G.L. c.62 §6(d) allows a state income-tax credit of 15% of net cost, capped at 1,000 dollars, for a principal residence.

New York State solar energy system equipment credit (Form IT-255): 25% of qualified expenditures for equipment at the taxpayer's principal residence, limited to 5,000 USD, not refundable, with unused credit carried forward up to five years (IT-255-I, 2025). NY-Sun residential incentives are paid to the participating contractor and must be reflected in the customer agreement. Affordable Solar (a total of 0.80 USD/W in the Con Edison and Upstate regions, 0.40 USD/W on Long Island) is available for projects serving households that qualify as low-to-moderate income, and like other NY-Sun residential incentives it is paid to the contractor. Systems interconnected on or after January 1, 2022 pay a monthly customer benefit contribution per kW DC.

Export tariffs, not rebates. APS Rate Rider RCP, A.C.C. 6248 revision 11, effective September 1, 2026, lists 5.554 cents/kWh for its September 2026–August 2027 tranche. TEP Rider-14 (effective September 1, 2023) works the same way with October 1 tranches; TEP's Statement of Charges lists 5.13 cents/kWh for the tranche effective October 1, 2025. Each utility locks the initial rate for ten years from interconnection. Separately, A.R.S. 43-1083 allows an Arizona income tax credit of 25% of the cost of a solar energy device installed in the taxpayer's Arizona residence, up to 1,000 dollars per residence, with unused credit carried forward for up to five years. SRP's export terms are not covered in this row.

Residential ADI SREC-II incentive: 77 USD/MWh for registrations received on or after July 27, 2026 (85 USD/MWh for earlier registrations that were complete, or cured within 7 business days), set by NJBPU Docket Nos. QO20020184 / QO26030096, order dated May 21, 2026 (effective May 28, 2026). It is paid on production over time, not as an upfront rebate. The Energy Year 2027 net-metered residential block is 300 MW, open until fully subscribed or June 1, 2027, whichever comes first; remaining capacity and a household award are not verified here.

Pepco Rider NEM (Page R-45, effective November 8, 2023) nets kWh usage charges only: a month’s excess kWh is credited to the next bill, and at calendar-year end generation above 100% of annual consumption is paid at the generation rate only. Solar renewable energy credits are separate, conditional income: DC Code § 34-1434(c)(3) sets the supplier compliance fee at 44 cents/kWh in 2026, falling to 10 cents from 2042, and the DC PSC reports an average SREC price of roughly 407 dollars in 2025. The fee is a ceiling, not a price. DOEE’s Solar for All is a separate route for low- to moderate-income families. Nothing here is deducted from the benchmark.

Export credit: DTE and Consumers bill grid electricity at the retail rate and credit exported electricity (outflow) at a lower, rate-schedule-specific power-supply credit plus a PSCR factor. DTE Rider 18 lists 8.765¢/kWh for the first 17 kWh a day on residential D1 (Sheet D-115.00, effective February 6, 2025). Consumers C11.3 lists 8.2996¢ to 15.1904¢ on residential RSP by season and period (Sheet C-64.30, effective May 1, 2026). Program size: Public Act 235 (effective February 27, 2024) limits each utility's distributed-generation program to 10% of its average five-year in-state peak load, with at least half reserved for systems under 20 kW; revised DTE (U-21798) and Consumers (U-21796) tariffs were approved March 13, 2025.

Statewide: PUCT rule 25.217 (project 39797, effective June 11, 2012) says that in customer-choice areas a solar owner who chooses to sell exports sells them to the retail electric provider serving the premises at a value both agree to, while interconnection is requested from the electric utility; in areas without customer choice the serving utility buys exports at a value consistent with rule 25.242. Texas Tax Code 11.27 exempts from property tax the appraised value an on-site solar device adds, if the owner files Form 50-123 with the appraisal district; it is not a cash rebate. Oncor delivery territory only: Oncor’s Residential Solar Program describes an incentive paid to participating service providers for new solar systems with battery storage (maximum 15 kW DC) and requires a signed interconnection agreement. Current Oncor funding and the household incentive amount are unknown.

Export rule, not an incentive: Florida PSC Rule 25-6.065 (amended April 7, 2008) requires investor-owned utilities to net meter customer-owned renewable generation. A month’s excess kWh is credited to the next month’s consumption; credits offset usage for up to twelve months, and unused credits are paid at the end of each calendar year, or when the customer leaves, at an average annual rate based on the utility’s COG-1 as-available energy tariff. Customer and demand charges still apply. Systems with a gross power rating of 10 kW AC or less (Tier 1; for inverter systems, DC nameplate × 0.85) pay no extra fees, including application fees, and need no utility-required liability insurance. FPL’s COG-1 prices energy from hourly avoided cost, not a fixed rate. Two statutes lower taxes on the system itself: Florida Statutes s. 212.08(7)(hh) exempts solar energy systems and their components from sales tax, and s. 193.624(2)(a) bars counting the just value attributable to a renewable energy source device, which includes photovoltaic modules and inverters, in assessing residential property; it applies to devices installed on or after January 1, 2013. No rebate is verified in this row.

Duke’s Net Metering Bridge (Rider NMB) closes to new participants on and after January 1, 2027, and sooner in practice once a utility’s 2026 annual capacity is used: 43,500 kW AC at Duke Energy Progress (Leaf 605, E-2, Sub 1396, effective April 1, 2026) and 38,700 kW AC at Duke Energy Carolinas (Leaf 143, E-7, Sub 1333, effective September 1, 2026). Remaining capacity is unknown. Bridge nets energy by billing month and credits monthly net excess at 3.94¢/kWh (DEP) or 4.53¢/kWh (DEC). Applicants after the capacity is met take Residential Solar Choice (RSC), which requires a time-of-use rate with critical peak pricing and credits net exports at the utility's avoided cost each month; Bridge does not require that rate. A Bridge customer can stay on it for up to 15 calendar years from the interconnection application. Both riders add a monthly minimum bill; under Bridge it applies to the customer and distribution part of the bill and is 28 dollars at DEP and 22 dollars at DEC. Legacy Rider NM closed to new customers September 30, 2023; existing NM customers can stay on it until December 31, 2026, then move to NMB automatically. Separately, North Carolina excludes 80% of the appraised value of a solar energy electric system from property tax (G.S. 105-275(45)).

South Carolina Code 12-6-3587 allows an income tax credit of 25% of the cost of purchasing and installing a solar energy system on a South Carolina facility the taxpayer owns, claimed on Department of Revenue Schedule TC-38 after installation is complete. Each year's use is capped at the lesser of 3,500 dollars per facility or 50% of that year's tax liability, and the excess may be carried forward for up to ten years. It is a credit against income tax, not an upfront rebate. Export compensation is separate: under SC Code 58-40-20, applications received after May 31, 2021 fall under a solar choice metering tariff set by the Public Service Commission, and that tariff's rate is not verified here.

Illinois Shines’ program-administrator FAQ describes REC incentives paid to participating Approved Vendors. Savings may be passed to customers, but the homeowner’s contract and disclosure determine whether and how much the customer receives. The same FAQ says projects installed after January 1, 2025 in Ameren, ComEd and MidAmerican territory get supply-only net metering, with delivery charges still paid on all grid electricity. ComEd’s tariff lists a distributed-generation rebate of 300 dollars per kW DC for systems using a smart inverter with required settings. No fixed household incentive or immediate cash receipt is assumed here.

AES Indiana: new systems take Rider 16 Excess Distributed Generation credit, 5.4325 cents per exported kWh on the sheet effective July 27, 2026 (Cause 46258), updated each year from wholesale prices. Net metering closed to new AES systems on July 1, 2022. Other Indiana utilities' rates and any state tax or rebate program are not verified here.

No state tax credit for new residential PV: Utah's Office of Energy Development says residential solar PV systems installed in 2024 and beyond are not eligible for the state tax credit. Export compensation is a Rocky Mountain Power tariff, not a statewide rule: RMP Schedule 137 (Net Billing Service) credits exports at 4.855 cents/kWh in June–September and 4.033 cents in October–May, effective March 1, 2026 (PSC Docket No. 26-035-T03). RMP's closed legacy schedules end on fixed dates: Schedule 135 net metering on December 31, 2035 and the Schedule 136 transition program on December 31, 2032. Terms of other Utah utilities are not verified in this row.

Solar exports from systems installed after 2019 are credited at each utility's avoided cost; energy used on site offsets full-price purchases (LPSC General Order 09-19-2019). Entergy Louisiana's rate is 3.86407 cents/kWh from April 1, 2026 (Rider DG Attachment A; LPSC 2026 table). Cleco Power is 3.854 cents and SWEPCO 3.656 cents on the same table. Entergy Louisiana systems installed by December 31, 2019 keep legacy net metering through December 31, 2034.

LG&E and KU: systems in service on or after September 24, 2021 take Rider NMS-2, a dollar bill credit of 7.089 cents (LG&E) or 7.534 cents (KU) per exported kWh, applied only to energy charges (sheets effective February 16, 2026). Kentucky Power: Tariff N.M.S. II credits a residential customer's excess generation accumulated for the billing period at 9.746 cents/kWh (sheet effective March 1, 2026, Case 2025-00257); systems in service before May 15, 2021 may stay on the original Tariff N.M.S. until May 14, 2046 at the latest. Duke Energy Kentucky, cooperatives, TVA-served distributors and any state tax or rebate program are not verified here.