Trevor Guilday
Founder
Expertise:
Solar Pricing & the Cost Index | Solar Incentives & Net Metering | Home Improvement
Education:
Bachelor of Science, Business Administration, Drexel University
About Trevor Guilday
Trevor Guilday is the founder of EcoGen America and the architect of the EcoGen Solar Cost Index, a state-by-state record of what residential solar systems actually cost. In the home improvement and residential solar industry since 2016, he brings a decade of experience to EcoGen America’s coverage of solar panel costs, solar incentives, net metering, and $0-down solar offers across all 50 states.
Areas of Expertise
Solar Pricing & the Cost Index
Maintains the EcoGen Solar Cost Index, a state-by-state record of what residential solar systems actually cost.
Solar Incentives & Net Metering
Covers state solar incentives, net metering rules, and $0-down solar offers across all 50 states.
Home Improvement & Residential Solar
In the home improvement and residential solar industry since 2016, with a decade of hands-on experience.
Recent Articles by Trevor Guilday
-
September 8, 2026Cost of Solar Panels in Maine (2026): Prices & Payback for CMP vs Versant Customers
The average cost of solar panels in Maine is $3.00 per watt in 2026 which equates to $14,430 for 4.8 kW system. The 30% federal credit is gone, but with some of the nation’s highest electricity rates and protected 1:1 net billing, Maine solar can still pay for itself in just 7 to 9 years. Here’s what you’ll pay on CMP versus Versant and what can push your quote higher.
-
September 9, 2026
Cost of Solar Panels in Georgia (2026): Prices, Payback and What Quotes Hide
Solar panels in Georgia cost $2.72 per watt in 2026, putting a typical 9.08 kW system at $24,700, but the low sticker price hides a slow return. With no federal or state solar tax credit and Georgia Power paying just 7.22¢/kWh for exports, payback ranges from 17.9 years to more than 26 years depending on your utility and how much solar power you use at home. This guide breaks down fair prices by system size, the hidden costs that inflate quotes, and how to size a system correctly so that it actually pays off.
-
September 8, 2026
New Hampshire Solar Panels Cost Guide (2026 Pricing)
*New Hampshire’s four utility territories, the 27.24¢ statewide electricity rate, and 2026 federal tax-credit rules are current as of July 2026, per EIA Table 5.6.A, IRS guidance on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s Tracking the Sun.
As of July 2026, the average cost of solar panels in New Hampshire is $3.03 per watt before incentives or $17,064 for a standard 5.63-kilowatt array sized to an average New Hampshire home.
-
September 9, 2026
How Much Do Solar Panels Cost in Pennsylvania? (2026 Price Guide)
Every major Pennsylvania utility raised its Price-to-Compare on June 1, 2026, and the statewide residential rate for electricity now stands at 20.43¢ per kWh, 14% above the national average. Rising rates and higher energy bills are why a lot of Pennsylvania homeowners are pricing solar this year.
The installed cost of solar panels is pretty straightforward in Pennsylvania. A typical system costs $2.84 per watt which is just under the national average. What changes the real cost is everything Pennsylvania stacks around that number: a 6% sales tax on solar with no exemption, no property-tax break, and the 30% federal credit gone for systems finished after December 31, 2025.
What a system costs in 2026 depends on three things: the installed price, the taxes Pennsylvania adds to it, and the net-metering rule that decides how fast it pays back.
-
September 8, 2026
South Carolina Solar Panel Cost: 2026 Prices & Savings Guide
South Carolina is one of the cheaper states in the country to buy solar, at $2.80 per watt installed, and it gets enough sun for a system to produce well. Yet the economics here are harder than that sunshine suggests, because the state pairs a moderate electricity rate with an export policy that pays only a few cents for the power you send back.
With the 30% federal credit gone for buyers, a 2026 quote shows the whole cost, with nothing subtracted at tax time. That leaves South Carolina’s 25% state tax credit to carry the entire incentive load, though it arrives over several tax years rather than as a check at purchase.
Here is what a system costs in South Carolina right now, what pushes that number up or down, and how fast it pays back on a Dominion, Duke, or Santee Cooper bill.
-
September 9, 2026
How Much Does Solar Cost in Wisconsin? 2026 Prices
Wisconsin electricity bills jumped again this year. We Energies raised residential rates 9.29% in 2025 and another 8.58% in 2026, adding $24 a month to a typical household bill. Alliant, WPS, MGE, and Xcel all followed with PSC-approved increases locked in through 2027.
A solar system in Wisconsin runs $3.11 per watt installed, putting a full-size residential system between $16,400 and $41,800 before incentives. That number is shaped by local factors like snow-load engineering requirements, net-metering rules that change the savings by utility territory, and a state rebate that doubled for 2026 but runs on a first-come, first-served cap.
-
September 9, 2026
Solar Panel Cost in West Virginia: 2026 Prices by Utility
West Virginia’s average residential electricity rate hit 16.37 cents per kilowatt-hour in March 2026, up from 11.5 cents at the start of the decade. The federal Residential Clean Energy Credit ended on December 31, 2025. West Virginia has no state tax credit, no rebate, and no sales-tax exemption on solar equipment. So the 2026 cost question here is unusually clean: you pay close to full sticker, and the only thing earning it back is the rate trajectory.
That trajectory is what keeps the math working for a meaningful share of West Virginia households. The math also divides cleanly by utility: an Appalachian Power customer who interconnects today is on a different deal than a Mon Power or Potomac Edison customer, and a homeowner who grandfathered in before their utility’s deadline is on a better deal than either.
-
September 10, 2026
What Solar Panels Cost in Washington, D.C. (2026), and What the Certificates Give Back
Expect $3.00 to $3.50 per watt for a professionally installed District system in 2026. What makes D.C. different is the income that starts flowing back the month the meter spins. -
September 10, 2026
Washington Solar Costs and the Clock That Already Expired
The law obliging your utility to credit you at full retail has already been satisfied at the biggest one. It continues by choice, not requirement. -
September 8, 2026
Utah Solar Costs and the Credit That Falls Every March
The credit for exported power fell again this March, and it resets every March. Whatever you bank expires at the same meter read. -
September 9, 2026
Cost of Solar Panels in Texas (2026): $3.00/W, and What the Sticker Hides
Around $19,350 buys a 6.45 kW system in Texas. This guide covers what that sticker includes, where quotes quietly leak money, and the property-tax exemption that protects the win.
-
September 10, 2026
South Dakota Solar Costs Without Any Net Metering
One of only two states with no net metering at all. The grid here is not a battery, it is a buyer paying wholesale, and that changes the whole design.
