Policy decides as much as sunshine
Solar by state
Solar economics are state policy wearing a hard hat. These pages summarize production expectations and electricity price context, then point you at the live sources, DSIRE for incentives and your utility tariff for export rules, because those change faster than any guide should pretend to track.
- Production ranges from NREL context
- Incentives verified in DSIRE, never assumed
- No federal credit after 2025
How to use a state page
Use it to set expectations, not to sign. Note the production range and price context, then write down the two verifications that decide your real economics: the current incentive entries for your address in DSIRE, and your utility export rule, including minimum bills and credit expiry. Price at least three quotes against the $3.25 per watt benchmark in the estimator, size the system with the sizing guide, and only then evaluate batteries with the battery guide. Program names and values change through legislation and rate cases; a neighbor's older contract is a story, not a source.
California
High prices make payback work even where exports are paid below retail. The state rewards self-consumption, so system sizing and daytime load matter more than raw roof coverage.
Read the state page
Texas
Excellent sun, a competitive retail market in much of the state, and no statewide net metering rule. The buyback plan is a design decision, not an afterthought.
Read the state page
Arizona
The strongest solar resource in the set and a history of policy swings on export compensation. The current tariff, not the sunshine, is the deciding document.
Read the state page
Massachusetts
High prices and a mature solar market with program structures that get revised. Worth modeling carefully with the current successor programs rather than old headlines.
Read the state page
Florida
Comparatively favorable net metering in much of the state, strong summer production, and hurricane exposure that makes hardware ratings and roof condition part of the economics.
Read the state page