Written by Dean Mahmoud, CEO, and checked by Trevor Guilday, founder.Prices from the September 2026 Cost Index. Utility rules read September 29 to October 6, 2026. Updated October 19, 2026.
A typical Texas home system is 9.29 kW and costs about $23,875 in cash at $2.57 per watt. Texas has no net metering law, so what your exported power earns decides the payback. In our per-utility figures, simple payback before incentives runs from 14.0 years at Austin Energy to 21.5 years at Pedernales Electric Cooperative.
Free for you. Solar providers pay us when you ask for quotes. How we make money
No Texas law makes anyone pay full price for the solar power you send to the grid: each plan or utility sets its own credit. Our per-utility figures run the same typical system through each utility’s own prices. They count no upkeep and no rise in power prices.
| Utility and export rule | Yearly saving | Simple payback before incentives |
|---|---|---|
| Austin Energy: every kWh the panels make earns 12.89¢ | $1,710 | 14.0 years |
| Magic Valley Electric Cooperative: output offsets power you buy at 10.201¢ | $1,353 | 17.6 years |
| Tri-County Electric Cooperative: exports earn 10.5¢, less a $12 monthly solar charge | $1,295 | 18.4 years |
| Entergy Texas: exports earn 3.587¢ to 3.866¢ by season | $1,131 | 21.1 years |
| Pedernales Electric Cooperative: exports earn 7.1921¢ | $1,112 | 21.5 years |
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These are simple paybacks before incentives, with no upkeep and no rise in power prices. We print no single Texas figure: the utilities a state figure would rest on serve only 3.7% of Texas homes. CPS Energy, El Paso Electric and CoServ have no figure yet because an input is missing, so ask your utility for its export credit. Our stress case, a Pedernales home whose exports earn nothing, takes about 79.5 years. A Texas system pays back faster when more of its power is used at home, when a delivery-company rebate lowers the price, or when your plan pays more for exports.
In most of Texas one company owns the wires and another sells you power. The seller sets what your exports earn. In Austin, San Antonio and co-op areas, one company does both.
State law has you sell extra power to your retail electric provider, at a value agreed between you. The rate is on the plan’s Electricity Facts Label.
Next: get the buyback rate and its end date in writing before you sign.
Value of Solar credit on all the power your panels make, since October 1, 2026 (9.91¢ before). About 4% of Texas homes.
Next: ask for savings priced at 12.89¢, and the $4,000 rebate.
CPS Energy nets kWh for kWh within the month and pays 1.65¢ to 2.02¢ for the excess. Pedernales pays 7.1921¢ against base power.
Next: ask your utility for its export credit and any solar charge in writing.
| Utility | What is credited | Credit | Limit to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austin Energy | Every kWh the panels make | 12.89¢ | Reset during the city budget process |
| CPS Energy | Monthly excess after netting | 1.65¢ to 2.02¢ | 2.02¢ June to September; systems you own, up to 25 kW AC |
| Pedernales Electric Cooperative | Every kWh sent out | 7.1921¢ | Pays only the 6.59¢ base power charge; expires December 31 |
| El Paso Electric | Net production | Its schedule | Buys up to 10% of your prior year’s use; $13.71 a month on the solar rate |
| Retail plan in a choice area | Set by the plan | On the label | TXU credits can pay energy charges only, not delivery charges or taxes |
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Section 39.916 of the Texas Utilities Code covers choice areas: you sell surplus power to the retail electric provider that serves your home, at a value you agree on. TXU Energy credits can offset up to 100% of energy charges each month, but not base charges, delivery charges, taxes or fees. Reliant’s Solar Payback Plus pays the live wholesale price; its Solar Payback Match pays a set credit. Green Mountain Energy’s Essentials plan stops at your monthly use.
At TXU Energy, Reliant and Green Mountain Energy, buyback credits can take up to three billing cycles to start. A buyback rate belongs to a plan, so it can change when the plan ends. We do not print plan rates: they differ by plan and delivery area. Read the Electricity Facts Label on the day you sign.
Texas has no state rebate. Some delivery companies and city utilities have one, and most pay it to your installer, not to you. Oncor, AEP Texas and TNMP end their 2026 programs on November 30, 2026, or sooner if the money runs out.
One check per home, mailed to you after final inspection. Up from $2,500 on July 1, 2026.
For a 7.5 to 30 kW system, paid to the installer. Projects done by November 30, 2026.
$135 per kW on the typical 9.29 kW system, up to 15 kW. Paid to the installer.
Never more than 50% of project cost. Submittals until 5 p.m. central on November 30, 2026, or until funds run out.
| Delivery company | Rebate | Price after it | Who gets paid |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austin Energy | $4,000 | $19,875 | You, by check |
| AEP Texas | $2,750 | $21,125 | Your installer |
| TNMP | $2,750 | $21,125 | Your installer; only $100,000 for 2026 |
| CenterPoint | $1,254 | $22,621 | Your installer, as a credit on your invoice |
| CPS Energy | $0 | $23,875 | No home solar rebate now |
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The September 2026 benchmark is $2.57 per watt, 4th lowest of the 51 markets in our index. These are modeled cash prices, not quotes we collected.
| Size | Power made a year | Cash price |
|---|---|---|
| 5 kW | 7,140 kWh | $12,850 |
| 8 kW | 11,424 kWh | $20,560 |
| 9.29 kW (typical) | 13,266 kWh | $23,875 |
| 12 kW | 17,136 kWh | $30,840 |
One benefit covers the whole state: solar does not raise your property tax, if you file the form. There is no state tax credit, because Texas has no state income tax.
Of the value solar adds. File Form 50-123 with your county appraisal district between January 1 and April 30.
Plus up to 2% local. Home solar equipment has no sales tax exemption.
No state credit, and no federal credit for a system you own placed in service after December 31, 2025.
Paused since the federal grant was ended on August 7, 2025. Nothing to apply for now.
| Way to pay | Who owns the panels | Texas rule to check |
|---|---|---|
| Cash | You | You file Form 50-123; ask who keeps the delivery-company rebate |
| Loan | You | Compare the financed total with cash; a dealer fee stretches the payback |
| Lease | The company | The company files the tax form; CPS credits and New Braunfels rebates are only for systems you own |
| PPA | The company | Not allowed by Austin Energy; compare the price per kWh with the price you avoid |
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Six companies, A to Z, not ranked. Each holds an electrical contractor license that was active in the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation registry when we checked on October 13 or 15, 2026. Other facts are from the companies’ own pages, read October 13 to 14, 2026 (older pages for Momentum Solar, whose current site blocks our access).
Momentum Solar buys homeowner leads from EcoGen America; that does not change any fact on its card. Freedom Power, Longhorn Solar and Palmetto do not. How we make money. Look up any Texas electrical license yourself in the TDLR license search.
Ask each installer which export credit its savings use, and to show the rebate as its own line.
Check your Texas roof and savingsEcoGen America does not sell or install solar. When you request quotes, we pass your request to solar providers serving your area, and they pay us for the introduction. Providers can include installers, solar marketplaces and lead exchanges, and more than one may contact you. You never pay us. Privacy policy
CEO of EcoGen America. Since 2021 he has connected homeowners with residential solar installers in all 50 states.
About Dean
Founder of EcoGen America. He has worked in residential solar since 2016 and maintains the EcoGen Solar Cost Index.
About Trevor