Solar in Idaho costs about $2.96 per watt, so the typical 7.44 kW system runs about $22,022 before incentives. What it earns back depends on your utility: Avista still nets your power at retail, while Idaho Power has credited exports at lower avoided-cost rates since January 2024.
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Idaho Power, Avista, Rocky Mountain or a co-op: the rulebook your meter follows
Ask what solar costs in Idaho and the first answer is a question: which utility bills your house? Idaho runs two solar regimes at once. Same panels, same sun, two different paybacks.
Do not trust a fixed export rate, including one on this pageIdaho Power’s Schedule 6 pays about 15.68¢ per kWh for exports on summer evenings (3 to 11 p.m., Monday to Saturday), 3.39¢ at other summer hours and 2.90¢ the rest of the year. These rates change by commission order. Get your utility’s current schedule in writing.
Under Idaho Power’s real-time billing, when you use power sets what it is worth
Idaho Power no longer nets kilowatt-hours across the billing period. It compares what flows in and out as it happens.
Power you use as it is made
Worth the retail rate your utility charges, modeled here at the 12.65¢ statewide average.
Power you send to the grid
Credited at the avoided-cost rate the moment it flows out. Meaningfully less than retail.
Avista customers skip this split: their exports still net against retail. For Idaho Power homes, load-shifting and right-sizing matter more than any equipment choice.
The current Idaho Power export rate is set until 2028Idaho Power’s current export credit rates took effect January 1, 2026 under IPUC Order No. 36892 (Schedule 6, Fourth Revised Sheet No. 6-9), and stay until a filing due April 1, 2028.
One 7.44 kW system, two Idaho paybacks
An Avista household with classic netting, once Avista confirms it can enroll, gets close to the full retail price for its power. An Idaho Power household gets the full price only for power it uses as it is made; its exports earn far less.
7.44 kW at $2.96 per watt
Before incentives, the typical system pays back in about 26.0 years statewide: 28.0 to 31.7 years at Idaho Power, 29.1 to 39.6 years at Rocky Mountain Power and 19.0 years at Avista if it takes your system (simple payback before incentives, with no upkeep and no future price rises counted). That is long by national standards because the power it replaces is so cheap. Idaho’s 3.1% yearly rate growth shortens it only slowly. Here solar is a long-horizon infrastructure decision, not a quick win.
Our Idaho worth-it guide shows the math for each utility.
Use the rate on your own billThe 12.65¢ is a statewide average for ranking context, not a filed rate. Avista and Idaho Power each file their own residential rates.
Above-average hardware, below-average power: Idaho systems from 5 kW to 10 kW
Idaho’s benchmark price is $2.96 per watt, 33rd lowest of 51. Its power is cheap, 12.65¢ on average. The sun helps: 5.35 peak hours and about 1,506 kWh per kW a year in Boise-class light. The typical 7.44 kW system, the median size Idaho homeowners installed in 2025 (Berkeley Lab, 307 systems), makes about 11,205 kWh a year. See where Idaho lands in the nationwide cost benchmarks.
Gross cost at $2.96 per watt, before incentives. Monthly output is the average month, the number real-time billing makes you care about. Real quotes vary by roof, equipment and installer.
Thin margins, so every dime of an Idaho bid counts
Thin savings make overpaying hurt more. Four rules:
- Hold bids to the $2.96 benchmark. Make installers justify every dime above it.
- Size at or below your yearly use. In a net-billing territory, extra panels are hardware bought to sell cheap power.
- Ask which utility’s export schedule the proposal models. Reject any bid that answers with a generic number.
- Have a lawyer read any lease or PPA. Idaho’s PPA legality is unclear, not established. And the federal residential credit is $0 for host-owned systems finished after December 31, 2025.
Four Idaho buyers who should spend the money elsewhere
- Idaho Power homes empty all day. Real-time billing with low self-use is the worst combination in the state. Fix the usage pattern or reconsider.
- Anyone buying on a fast-payback pitch. Cheap power keeps Idaho paybacks long. A proposal showing a quick one is modeling a different state.
- Short-stay owners. The math needs a long runway, or a sale that prices the system in.
- Co-op members who have not asked. About 13% of Idaho homes sit outside the big-three rulebooks. Your co-op’s terms could be better or worse, and guessing is free until it costs you $22,022.
Get bids modeled for your utility, not the state
Margins are thin in Idaho, so a bid built on a generic export rate can oversell. Enter your ZIP code for bids that use your own utility’s terms.
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More on Idaho solar costs
Frequently asked questions
How much do solar panels cost in Idaho in 2026?
About $2.96 per watt installed, 33rd lowest of 51 in the EcoGen Solar Cost Index (September 2026 Edition). The typical 7.44 kW system runs about $22,022 before incentives. Idaho also lets you deduct part of that cost from your state taxable income over four years: about $18,213 in all ($5,000 in year one, about $4,404 in each of the next three).
Does Idaho have net metering?
It depends on your utility. Avista still nets kilowatt-hours at retail the classic way, while Idaho Power moved to real-time net billing in January 2024 and Rocky Mountain Power also credits exports at avoided-cost rates. At Idaho Power, credit left at year end carries forward as dollars on your account and is paid out only if you move without starting new service. Co-ops set their own terms.
What is the solar payback period in Idaho?
A long time. Before incentives, the typical 7.44 kW system pays back in about 26.0 years statewide: 28.0 to 31.7 years at Idaho Power, 29.1 to 39.6 years at Rocky Mountain Power and 19.0 years at Avista, which nets kWh for kWh if it confirms you can enroll. These are simple paybacks before incentives, with no upkeep and no future price rises counted. Cheap power is the main reason they run long. Our Idaho worth-it guide shows the math for each utility.
Why did Idaho Power change its solar billing?
Idaho Power moved new customers to real-time net billing effective January 1, 2024 under commission-approved changes, crediting exports at avoided-cost rates as they flow rather than netting kilowatt-hours across the billing period. Current export schedules are filed with the commission and change over time, so confirm the current figure directly.
Is solar worth it in Idaho at all?
For long-horizon owners with good roofs, high daytime usage, or Avista service, the math works slowly and steadily. For quick-payback expectations, Idaho is the wrong state: cheap grid power keeps paybacks long.
How we calculate these costs
Cost figures use Idaho’s entry in the EcoGen Solar Cost Index (September 2026 Edition), $2.96 per watt, prices as of September 25, 2026. The 7.44 kW typical size is Berkeley Lab’s 2025 median for Idaho single-family installs (307 systems). The 12.65¢ is the EIA 12-month residential average, August 2025 to July 2026. Paybacks are simple paybacks before incentives from our per-utility figures of October 19, 2026: about 26.0 years statewide, weighted by the homes Idaho Power, Rocky Mountain Power and Avista serve, with no upkeep and no future price rises counted. The Idaho worth-it guide shows the utility examples. Per-utility export rates change by commission order and are stated as structure only.
Sources (7)
- Idaho Public Utilities Commission (IPUC), Orders 36048 and 36892: Idaho Power real-time net billing from January 1, 2024, and the export credit rates from January 1, 2026 (Idaho Power Schedule 6, Sheet No. 6-9, read October 19, 2026): puc.idaho.gov
- Avista Utilities, Schedule 63: Net Metering Option Schedule, Idaho (accessed September 9, 2026)
- EIA, Electric Power Monthly, residential price by state, 12-month average August 2025 to July 2026: eia.gov
- EIA, Form EIA-861 Annual Electric Power Industry Report, 2024: eia.gov
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2024: census.gov
- IRS, One, Big, Beautiful Bill Provisions (Public Law 119-21, accessed August 15, 2026): irs.gov
- DSIRE, Third-Party Solar PV Power Purchase Agreement Policies, May 2026 (accessed August 15, 2026): ncsolarcen-prod.s3.amazonaws.com
