Key takeaways
- Nobody sells “free” solar to Arkansas homes. Home leases are legal but have no seller, and home PPAs are limited by state law.
- Zero-down solar in Arkansas means a loan for a system you own. The federal home credit ended for systems installed after December 31, 2025, and Arkansas lists no state solar credit.
- Your filing date sets your credit. Under Act 278 of 2023, systems that applied before September 30, 2024 keep kWh-for-kWh net metering until June 1, 2040. New systems get dollar credits instead.
- Exports earn 3.34 cents per kWh on Entergy Arkansas, about a quarter of what Entergy homes paid (about 13 cents per kWh on average in 2024). Power you use yourself is worth far more.
- Solar for All is stalled. Arkansas’s $93.67 million award planned low-income home leases; none launched, and no household can apply today.
About this review
Every tariff, rule and tax point here was read on its listed source between September 29 and October 5, 2026; the lease market and Solar for All were rechecked October 5. This guide explains offers and programs; it is not tax, legal or financial advice.
How we choose sources and correct errors: editorial process and content standards.
Arkansas had 169.2 MW of rooftop solar at the end of 2024, on federal energy data, and grew 18.7% in a year. It did that without a single company offering free panels to homes. It is one of 17 states with no home lease or PPA offerings, which tests a claim the industry repeats: that homeowners need a no-money-down product. Arkansas homeowners evidently did not.
So nearly all of those panels belong to the household under them. When a national free solar ad reaches you here, the real question is not “how do I get this for free” but “does buying work in Arkansas”.
A Market Built Entirely on Purchase
Almost every free solar ad sells one of two contracts. In a lease, a company owns the panels on your roof and bills you monthly. In a power purchase agreement (PPA), it owns them and sells you their power at a price per kilowatt-hour (kWh, the unit on your bill). Both are called third-party ownership. Arkansas treats them differently:
- PPAs are fenced in. DSIRE’s May 2026 map says Arkansas limits third-party PPAs to solar services agreements for tax-exempt entities, under S.B. 145 of 2019, and “explicitly allows solar leasing.” A household is not a tax-exempt entity.
- Leases are allowed, and the paperwork exists. Entergy Arkansas asks customers with a leased system or third-party service agreement for a signed affidavit when they apply.
- But nobody is selling. A July 2025 count built on DSIRE data found no home lease or PPA offerings here. Sunrun, the largest national lease company, did not list Arkansas when we checked on October 5, 2026.
Zero-Down Solar in Arkansas: Four Routes, One That Works
Every no-money-down route an Arkansas home might be pitched, as of October 5, 2026:
| Route | Sold to Arkansas homes now? | The rule behind it | Whose name is on the net-metering agreement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zero-down solar loan | Yes, through installers and lenders; terms vary | Ordinary consumer credit; you own the system | Yours |
Pros and cons in Arkansas: zero-down loanPros
Cons
Can fit if: the loan payment is below what the panels save on power you use at home. | |||
| Solar lease | Legal, but no company found selling them to homes. Checked October 5, 2026. | Allowed; Entergy asks for a lease affidavit | Yours, with the lease filed alongside |
Pros and cons in Arkansas: leasePros
Cons
Can fit if: the company shows Arkansas homes it has leased to, and the payment beats your savings with any yearly increase included. | |||
| Power purchase agreement (PPA) | No; limited to tax-exempt buyers | S.B. 145 of 2019 (Act 464), the Solar Access Act | Not offered to homes |
Pros and cons in Arkansas: PPAPros
Cons
Can fit if: you are a church, school or nonprofit, not a homeowner. | |||
| Solar for All lease (Hope Enterprise) | No; planned, never launched | Federal Solar for All grant, low-income homes | Would have been yours, with a partner lessor |
Pros and cons in Arkansas: Solar for All leasePros
Cons
Can fit if: it launches and your income qualifies. Watch Hope Enterprise’s own site. | |||
Lease or PPA? In Arkansas the comparison does not arise: PPAs are limited to tax-exempt entities, and no company sells home leases. Compare loan rates and lifetime cost in our solar financing guide. North Arkansas Electric Cooperative members can borrow at 1% for a home battery (energy-storage devices are eligible; panels are not listed), from $1,000 over up to 10 years.
What happened to Solar for All in Arkansas?
In April 2024 EPA picked Hope Enterprise Corporation for $93.67 million to build a home rooftop lease market in investor-owned utility areas, plus help for multifamily renters. No household can apply today. EPA ended Solar for All grants in August 2025. In September 2026 two federal courts ruled that unlawful, and EPA was weighing an appeal as of October 1. Hope Enterprise’s homeowner page still says the lease program was planned to launch “by fall of 2025” and only takes contact details (checked October 5, 2026).
The Date on Your Paperwork Beats Any Financing Structure
This matters more than financing type. Act 278 of 2023 split solar homes by one date: whether the interconnection agreement went to the utility before September 30, 2024.
| Which side you are on | How exported power is credited | How long it lasts |
|---|---|---|
| Applied before September 30, 2024 (legacy) | Net metering: each kWh sent out cancels one kWh bought; extra kWh roll forward | Until June 1, 2040, and it stays with the home if you sell |
| Applied later (non-legacy) | Dollars at avoided cost (what the utility would pay for wholesale power): 3.34 cents per kWh on Entergy Arkansas for March 2026 through February 2027; leftover dollars roll to the next bill, with no year-end payout or expiry | Refiled by February 1 each year; Entergy’s next reset is March 2027 |
Send 100 kWh to Entergy on the new terms and you earn $3.34. Use them at home and you avoid buying about $13 of power, at Entergy’s 2024 home average. If you are buying a house that already has panels, the filing date in its interconnection agreement may be worth more than the panels.
For a new system, size it to what the house uses in daylight, not to sell power at 3.34 cents per kWh. Arkansas caps home systems at the lesser of 25 kW or 100% of your highest month in the past year anyway.
The export rate does move. Entergy’s rate rose about 35%, from 2.47 cents per kWh to 3.34 cents per kWh, on March 1, 2026. It tracks the prior year’s wholesale prices, so it can fall the same way. A 25-year savings model that projects the rise forward is presenting a guess.
Entergy, a Co-op or a City Utility: Who Sets Your Terms
Act 278 covers Entergy, the other investor-owned utilities and co-ops. City utilities set their own terms.
| Your utility | Credit for exported power | One-time fee | Bill floor with solar |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entergy Arkansasabout 4 in 10 Arkansas homes | 3.34 cents per kWh, reset each March | $196.75 | Credits cannot pay the customer charge |
| First Electric CooperativeOne of the co-ops serving about 1 in 3 Arkansas homes | Avoided cost; not printed on its pages. Its supplier last posted 2.89 cents per kWh, from March 1, 2025 | $320 | $31 a month plus taxes, subject to change |
| SWEPCO | 3.656 cents per kWh for March 2026 through February 2027 | $175 | Ask in writing |
| Other co-ops, OG&E | Under the same rules; ask for the current figure | Ask | Ask in writing |
| City utilitiesabout 1 in 8 Arkansas homes | Set locally | Set locally | Set locally |
Every utility wants the signed interconnection agreement at least 30 days before the system is switched on. Full program detail: Arkansas solar incentives.
Buying Now Means Buying Without Tax Help
Much of Arkansas’s rooftop solar was bought while the federal home credit existed. The Residential Clean Energy Credit is not available for systems installed after December 31, 2025. Arkansas’s Form AR1000TC for 2025 lists no solar credit, and the state’s January 2025 report on tax breaks names none for home solar equipment, so expect 6.5% state sales tax plus local tax on a quote.
Lease companies elsewhere may still claim a business credit and pass part on; with no lease company here, that does not reach Arkansas homes. Redo the math rather than trust a neighbor’s older numbers.
You Likely Will Not Qualify If
- You are answering a national free solar ad. No company delivers home leases or PPAs in Arkansas.
- You expect to join kWh-for-kWh net metering. It closed to filings made on or after September 30, 2024.
- You are counting on the federal home credit or an Arkansas solar credit. Neither applies to a 2026 system.
Five Checks Before You Sign in Arkansas
- Who owns the system on day one?
If not you, ask for Arkansas homes the company has leased to, with addresses you can check.
- Which export credit did the quote use?
On Entergy it should be 3.34 cents per kWh, not the retail price. A co-op quote should name the co-op’s current figure.
- Is the system sized to daytime use?
Extra panels mostly earn the export credit. A smaller system often pays back faster.
- Are the fees in the price?
Look for the interconnection fee ($196.75 on Entergy, $320 at First Electric) and sales tax.
- Does the savings estimate assume a tax credit?
If so, it is wrong for a system switched on in 2026.
Pause if a seller promises free panels, a government program everyone qualifies for, or a 2026 tax credit.
Read the solar scam warning signs, and check what solar costs in Arkansas before you compare loan totals.
Get Arkansas Quotes for a System You Own
Ask each installer for the cash price, loan total and assumed export credit side by side.
Type your ZIP code to compare Arkansas installers
This is a commercial quote request, not an application for Solar for All or a utility net-metering program. Availability depends on your ZIP code and home. Net-metering terms: Entergy Arkansas, First Electric.
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More Arkansas Solar Guides
- Arkansas solar guideUtilities, incentives and installers in one place
- Arkansas solar incentivesAct 278 credits and utility rules
- Cost of solar in ArkansasCash prices to test a loan against
- Are solar panels worth it in Arkansas?Payback on avoided-cost credits
- Arkansas solar companiesInstallers working in the state
- Free solar panels in the USPrograms and zero-down offers elsewhere
Arkansas Solar FAQs
Can I get free solar panels in Arkansas?
No company offers them to homes. “Free” solar means a lease or PPA. Leases are legal here but have no seller, and PPAs are limited to tax-exempt entities. Arkansas still reached 169.2 MW of rooftop solar at the end of 2024, nearly all of it bought.
Can I get zero-down solar in Arkansas?
Yes, with a solar loan for a system you own. You borrow the full price, since no federal or state credit lowers it in 2026. Test the payment against savings on power you use at home, not on exports.
What does Act 278 mean for my Arkansas solar system?
It depends on your filing date. Systems that applied before September 30, 2024 keep kWh-for-kWh net metering until June 1, 2040. Later systems get dollar credits at avoided cost, 3.34 cents per kWh on Entergy Arkansas for March 2026 through February 2027.
Is Solar for All available in Arkansas?
Not today. EPA ended the grants in August 2025 before Hope Enterprise launched its low-income lease program. Courts ruled that unlawful in September 2026; watch Hope Enterprise’s site, not a salesperson.
Did the Arkansas export rate really go up?
Yes. Entergy’s rate rose from 2.47 cents per kWh to 3.34 cents per kWh on March 1, 2026, about 35%. It follows wholesale prices, so it can fall at the next reset in March 2027.
What costs do Arkansas quotes usually leave out?
The interconnection fee ($196.75 on Entergy, $320 at First Electric), 6.5% state sales tax plus local tax, and an honest export credit. Exports earn about a quarter of what power used at home saves on Entergy.
Sources and review
Checked between September 29 and October 5, 2026. Tariffs change; the utility’s current tariff always wins.
- Entergy Arkansas, Rate Schedule No. 71, Non-Legacy Net-Metering Service, with Attachment A effective March 1, 2026 (checked October 16, 2026)
- Entergy Arkansas, Net metering (checked September 30, 2026)
- Arkansas Public Service Commission, Net-Metering Rules, 23 CAR Part 457 (checked September 30, 2026)
- First Electric Cooperative, Net Metering Service (checked September 30, 2026)
- First Electric Cooperative, Facts About Solar (checked September 30, 2026)
- North Arkansas Electric Cooperative, Energy Efficiency Loans (checked September 30, 2026)
- Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration, Biennial Report on State Tax Exemptions, Discounts, Credits, and Deductions, January 2025 (checked October 1, 2026)
- Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration, AR1000TC 2025, Individual Income Tax Credits (checked October 1, 2026)
- IRS, Residential Clean Energy Credit (checked September 30, 2026)
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-861, 2024 data, Sales to Ultimate Customers (checked September 30, 2026)
- DSIRE / NC Clean Energy Technology Center, 3rd Party Solar PV Power Purchase Agreement map, May 2026 (checked October 5, 2026)
- pv magazine USA, States without residential solar third-party ownership may become holes in the market after 2025, July 22, 2025 (checked October 5, 2026)
- Sunrun, solar by state (Arkansas not listed; checked October 5, 2026)
- EPA, Arkansas’ Hope Enterprise Corporation to receive Solar for All award, April 23, 2024 (checked October 5, 2026)
- Hope Enterprise Corporation, Solar for All products and programs (checked October 5, 2026)
- Utility Dive, Federal judge restores $7B Solar for All program, says EPA illegally axed it, September 2026 (checked October 5, 2026)
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