Ohio pays you the full retail rate for solar power you use in the house and roughly a third of that for power you export. That one asymmetry, plus the end of the state's renewable standard this year, decides who should buy panels here and who should pass. EcoGen America gives Ohioans the version without the sales gloss.
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Ohio’s investor-owned utilities, AEP, Duke, AES Ohio and the FirstEnergy companies, must offer net metering on residential systems up to 25 kW. But the credit is split: power you consume as it is produced avoids the full retail rate, while exported surplus is credited near the generation-only rate, roughly 4 to 5¢ per kilowatt-hour depending on utility.
The state’s other support is ending: Ohio’s renewable portfolio standard sunsets in 2026, which leaves its SRECs, already trading in the single digits, effectively worthless as an income stream. There is no state tax credit and no state rebate.
What remains is honest, narrow math: moderate install prices against moderate rates, carried almost entirely by how much of your production you use in the moment.
EcoGen America models your daytime load against your utility’s actual crediting, prices quotes against the real Ohio band, and matches you with installers who design for self-consumption instead of roof-filling.
Every installer we list designs to your daytime consumption and your utility's tariff, not to the biggest array the roof allows.
Built-in checks for projections priced at retail-rate exports, SREC income that no longer exists, and dealer fees inside financed totals.
AEP, Duke, AES and FirstEnergy each credit exports slightly differently. We model yours, not an Ohio average.
Your information goes only to the installers you choose to hear from. Nothing is resold.
EcoGen is 100% free for homeowners. We earn a small referral fee from installers only when you choose to proceed with a project through our platform.
This fee comes from the installer’s marketing budget and does not increase your system price. In fact, our pre-negotiated rates often save you money compared to going direct.
One meter, two prices. Every honest Ohio projection starts from this split; most sales projections pretend it away.
Where the Kilowatt-Hour Goes | What It Is Worth | Design Consequence |
|---|---|---|
Consumed in the house as produced | Full retail, roughly 11-14¢ all-in | The only strong dollar in Ohio solar; maximize it |
Exported to the grid | Generation-rate credit, roughly 4-5¢ | About a third of retail; oversizing donates margin |
Counted on as SREC income | $3-12 per certificate, and the RPS ends in 2026 | Treat as zero; any quote pricing SRECs is stale |
Size to the load you can shift into daylight, an EV charging at noon, a heat-pump water heater on a timer, and Ohio solar earns its keep. Size to the roof and it quietly underdelivers for 25 years.
Map what your household actually uses while the sun is up, and what could move there: EV charging, laundry, water heating.
Design to that daytime load plus a modest margin. Every kilowatt-hour past it earns roughly a third as much.
Make the installer show payback with exports at your utility's real credit and SRECs at zero. If it survives that, it is a genuine deal.
Free 15-minute call. We tell you whether your load profile makes Ohio solar work.
Older Ohio guides lean hard on renewable-credit income. That chapter is closing, and quotes built on it deserve the bin.
Our Ohio incentive and cost articles are being rebuilt to current rules; until they ship, this page is the current reference.
Ohio Contract Checks
Thin-margin states punish sloppy contracts hardest. Demand these four before signing anything in Ohio.
A projection crediting exports at retail overstates their value roughly threefold. The model must use your utility's generation-rate credit.
With the RPS ending in 2026, certificate income belongs at zero in any forward-looking Ohio model.
Roof-filling is margin donation here. The system should map to what you consume in daylight, plus what you can shift there.
Dealer fees do the most damage where margins are thinnest, and Ohio's are thin.
Four answers, any Ohio quote. The installers worth hiring give them without a fight.
Vetted for licensing, self-consumption design discipline, warranties and complaint history.
We would rather lose a lead than sell a bad system. In Ohio, that means telling these households to wait.
Who should move: daytime-heavy homes, EV owners who can charge at noon, and all-electric households, especially in the higher-rate FirstEnergy and AEP territories. For that profile the split meter works in your favor every sunny day for decades.
Against the real Ohio band, with exports at the real credit and SRECs at zero.
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Yes, for investor-owned utility customers on systems up to 25 kW, but with a split: self-consumed power avoids the full retail rate while exported surplus is credited near the generation-only rate, roughly 4 to 5¢/kWh.
That asymmetry is why daytime self-consumption, not export, carries every honest Ohio payback.
Barely, and not for long: certificates have traded at $3 to $12 and the renewable portfolio standard behind them ends in 2026.
Model SREC income at zero. A quote that prices it is working from an old playbook.
Essentially none at the state level: no tax credit, no rebate, and the federal residential credit ended December 31, 2025. Lease and PPA providers can still claim the federal commercial credit and pass some value through.
Ohio’s durable benefit is structural: full-retail savings on every kilowatt-hour you use as you make it.
Households with real daytime load or the ability to create it: EVs charging midday, home offices, electric water heating on timers, all-electric homes, particularly in higher-rate AEP and FirstEnergy territories.
For low-daytime-use homes, the honest answer in 2026 is usually to wait.
