Nevada has a working market in no-money-down solar, which most states cannot say. It also spent the last year changing the rules underneath everyone. A twenty-year lease payment follows the schedule you sign, escalator included; the tariff that decides whether the system is worth having is not, and in northern Nevada it already changed once. That asymmetry is the whole subject of this page.
A Real Market, on Ground That Moved
Free solar means a lease or a power purchase agreement, under which a company owns the panels and charges you either a monthly fee or a price per kilowatt-hour. Both are available in Nevada, which puts it outside the 17 states that have no third-party providers at all. The offers here are real and deliverable.
What changed is the arrangement they sit on. The Public Utilities Commission approved a shift for northern Nevada in its consolidated rate cases, Dockets 25-02016 and 25-03006, with an order on September 16, 2025 and a modified final order on November 20, 2025.
Where you are | Utility | How generation is matched to use |
|---|---|---|
Northern Nevada | Sierra Pacific Power | Per 15-minute interval, for applications approved on or after October 1, 2025 |
Southern Nevada | Nevada Power | Monthly netting, unchanged |
A challenge argued the shorter window conflicts with the monthly netting the statute requires. The First Judicial District Court in Carson City denied that petition in February 2026, and the challengers signaled an appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court. So it stands today, and it is not finally settled.
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See which Nevada utility covers your address
What a Fixed Payment Cannot Protect You From
This is the part worth thinking through before signing anything long. Under a lease, your monthly payment follows the contract schedule, and most Nevada lease and PPA contracts include an annual escalator, typically 1 to 3%, so a payment that starts below your utility bill compounds roughly 20 to 75% higher by year 20. Ask for the year-20 payment in dollars, not the year-1 payment. Even less settled is the value of what the system produces, because that depends on a tariff the Commission can revisit.
Northern Nevada is the live demonstration. Under monthly netting, a cloud at 2pm is invisible. Under 15-minute netting, the day is settled in 96 separate pieces, so a household that nets to zero across the month can still export heavily and import heavily, paying the spread on both. Nothing about a lease payment adjusts when that happens.
There is a second change already scheduled. The same rate case approved a residential demand charge, based on your single highest burst of usage rather than your total consumption, postponed to January 1, 2027. Demand charges interact badly with solar, because panels reduce the energy you buy without necessarily reducing the moment you buy the most of it.
Any twenty-year offer modeled without the 2027 demand charge is incomplete, and it is approved and dated, so there is no excuse for leaving it out. Ask to see the model with it included.
The Tier 4 Lock Belongs to the Address
Nevada’s export rate comes from Assembly Bill 405, which replaced full retail net metering with declining tiers. Tiers 1 through 3, at 95%, 88% and 81% of retail, are closed. New residential systems enter at Tier 4, which credits exports at 75% of retail, roughly 10.6¢ against the statewide average residential price near 14.16¢.
Worth saying plainly: 75% of retail is a good export rate by 2026 standards, well ahead of the wholesale avoided-cost rates many states have moved to. And it is locked for 20 years at the original location, with residential systems capped at 25 kW.
The lock attaching to the location rather than to a person is the detail that matters when comparing routes. Whichever way the system is paid for, the tier stays with the address, so it is worth establishing what tier a property already holds if you are buying a house with panels on it.
You Likely Will Not Qualify If
- Your credit history does not clear the provider’s threshold. Third-party ownership is a twenty-year financing decision by the company and turns on credit rather than on your roof.
- You were hoping for Tier 1, 2 or 3. All three closed between 2018 and 2020. New residential systems enter at Tier 4 and 75% of retail.
- You are expecting a Nevada state solar tax credit. Nevada has no personal income tax, so there is no return for a credit to reduce. This is structural rather than a policy that might change.
- You are counting on claiming the federal credit yourself. Section 25D is $0 for purchased systems from January 1, 2026, and under third-party ownership the company may claim Section 48E. That business credit is not automatic; under current rules it turns on the project being in service by the end of 2027 (or an earlier construction start) and on federal sourcing requirements, so ask the provider to confirm in writing that its credit qualification is secured.
- You are in the north and were quoted on monthly netting. Applications approved from October 1, 2025 in Sierra Pacific territory settle every 15 minutes, and a monthly model overstates what you keep.
Comparing an Offer While the Rules Move
Because Nevada has no income tax, there is no state credit sitting in the ownership column to weigh against a company’s 48E claim, which makes third-party ownership more competitive here than in Hawaii or Delaware, provided the project actually qualifies under current federal deadlines. That is a fair point in its favor and it belongs in the comparison.
Against it, ask three questions of any offer. Does the model use interval data or monthly totals, which decides whether it describes northern Nevada at all. Does it include the January 2027 demand charge. And what happens to your payment if the tariff changes again, given that it just did and an appeal is pending.
A company confident in its offer will answer all three in writing. Our Nevada incentives guide covers the tiers and the rate case, and the Nevada installer list covers who does the work.
Nevada Solar FAQs
Yes, in the sense that leases and power purchase agreements are both available here, which puts Nevada outside the 17 states with no third-party providers. The panels remain the company’s property. The Nevada-specific caution is that the tariff underneath the offer changed in the last year and is under appeal, while a lease payment follows the schedule you signed, escalator included.
It is the period over which generation is measured against consumption, and in northern Nevada it is now a quarter of an hour rather than a month for Sierra Pacific applications approved from October 1, 2025. The day is settled in 96 separate pieces, so a household that nets to zero across a month can still export heavily and import heavily, paying the spread on both. A quote modeled on monthly totals cannot show you that.
New residential systems enter at Tier 4 under Assembly Bill 405, crediting exports at 75% of the retail rate, roughly 10.6¢ against the statewide average residential price near 14.16¢. Tiers 1 to 3, at 95%, 88% and 81%, are closed. The Tier 4 rate is locked for 20 years at the original location, and residential systems are capped at 25 kW. By 2026 standards 75% of retail is a good export rate.
A bill component based on your single highest burst of usage rather than your total consumption, approved in the same rate case and postponed to January 1, 2027. It interacts badly with solar, because panels reduce the energy you buy without necessarily reducing the moment you buy the most of it. Any twenty-year offer modeled without it is incomplete, since it is approved and dated.
Nevada has no personal income tax, so there is no state credit sitting in the ownership column to weigh against a company’s Section 48E claim, which makes third-party ownership more competitive here than in Hawaii or Delaware, if the project qualifies under current federal deadlines; confirm that in writing. Against that, ask whether the model uses interval data or monthly totals, whether it includes the January 2027 demand charge, and what happens to your payment if the tariff changes again while an appeal is pending.
Ask for the model with the 2027 charge in it. Enter your ZIP code to see who serves your address.
Ask for the model with 2027 included
References & Research Sources
The tier structure, dockets and litigation posture above come from the records below. Litigation status is stated as of August 21, 2026 and will change. Contract terms described are general to third-party ownership and are not a substitute for reading your own agreement. Sources accessed between June 10 and August 21, 2026.
- pv magazine USA. States without residential solar third-party ownership may become holes in the market after 2025. Analysis drawing on DSIRE data: the 23-state and 17-state counts, with Nevada outside those groups. Dated July 22, 2025. Accessed August 17, 2026.
- Public Utilities Commission of Nevada. Net metering record. The Assembly Bill 405 tier structure, the closure of Tiers 1 to 3 at 95%, 88% and 81% of retail, the Tier 4 rate of 75% of retail, the 20-year lock at the original location, and the 25 kW residential cap; consolidated Dockets 25-02016 and 25-03006, the order of September 16, 2025 and the Modified Final Order of November 20, 2025 carry the shift to 15-minute interval netting for Sierra Pacific Power applications approved on or after October 1, 2025, the retention of monthly netting for Nevada Power, and the residential demand charge postponed to January 1, 2027. Accessed August 17, 2026.
- Vote Solar. Judge dismisses critical lawsuit to protect communities from higher energy bills. Reporting the First Judicial District Court’s denial of the petition for review and the signaled appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court; the post is dated May 28, 2026, while the denial itself came in February 2026 per the court record. Accessed August 21, 2026.
- US Energy Information Administration. Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.A: Average Price of Electricity to Ultimate Customers. The Nevada statewide average residential rate of 14.16¢ per kWh used on this page as labeled context. Accessed August 17, 2026.
- Internal Revenue Service. One, Big, Beautiful Bill provisions. The Public Law 119-21 termination of Section 25D and the availability of Section 48E to business owners of residential systems under current deadlines. Accessed August 17, 2026.
