Solar in Idaho costs about $3.09 per watt, so the typical 7.52 kW system runs about $23,237 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 pageExport rates at the net-billing utilities change by commission order and season, and current filings run well below retail. 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 12.52¢ 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 2028IPUC Order 36785 set the export credit rate effective October 1, 2025, with annual updates paused until an April 1, 2028 filing.
One 7.52 kW system, two Idaho paybacks
An Avista household with classic netting offsets retail almost in full. For an Idaho Power household, that same figure is the ceiling, not the estimate.
7.52 kW at $3.09 per watt, Avista-style netting
The payback is long by national standards because the power it replaces is so cheap. Idaho’s 3.1% yearly rate growth chips away at both numbers slowly. Here solar is a long-horizon infrastructure decision, not a quick win.
Rerun it with your own billThe 12.52¢ 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 $3.09 per watt (as of March 1, 2026), 41st of 51, tied with Illinois. Its power is among the cheapest at 12.52¢, 47th. The sun helps: 5.35 peak hours and about 1,506 kWh per kW a year in Boise-class light. The typical 7.52 kW system makes about 11,325 kWh a year, against the average home’s 11,330 kWh of use. See where Idaho lands in the nationwide cost benchmarks.
Gross cost at $3.09 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 $3.09 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. Idaho’s floor is 16 years. A proposal showing 8 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 $23,237.
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 $3.09 per watt installed, rank 41 nationally, as of March 1, 2026. The typical 7.52 kW system runs about $23,237 before incentives.
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. Co-ops set their own terms.
What is the solar payback period in Idaho?
Around 16 to 17 years for an Avista household with retail netting, and longer for Idaho Power customers unless daytime self-use is high, because exports there earn avoided-cost rates. Cheap 12.52¢ power is the main reason paybacks run long.
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 even the best case around 16 years.
How we calculate these costs
Cost figures use Idaho’s entry in the EcoGen Solar Cost Index (v2 method), $3.09 per watt as of March 1, 2026. Payback assumes no federal residential credit for host-owned systems, exports below retail at net-billing utilities, 3.1% yearly rate growth (the state 5-year average), 0.5% yearly panel degradation and a 25-year horizon. Per-utility export rates change by commission order and are stated as structure only.
Sources (7)
- Idaho Public Utilities Commission (IPUC), Orders 36048 and 36785: Idaho Power real-time net billing from January 1, 2024, and the export credit rate from October 1, 2025 (accessed June 11, 2026): puc.idaho.gov
- Avista Utilities, Schedule 63: Net Metering Option Schedule, Idaho (accessed September 9, 2026)
- EIA, Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.A, March 2026 edition: 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
