Anders Alexander has worked in solar since 2013, from selling residential systems and directing installer sales teams to managing solar analysis software at EagleView and partnering on clean energy financing. He serves on the boards of the Washington Solar Energy Industries Association and Solar Washington.
Oklahoma allows both solar leases and power purchase agreements, so no-money-down offers here are real. It is also a state where the number those offers are priced against, the utility’s avoided energy cost, is posted by OG&E daily and by PSO monthly. A power purchase agreement sells you electricity at a contracted rate; judging whether that rate is fair requires knowing what your exports are worth, and in Oklahoma that figure sat near 4¢/kWh off-peak in 2026.
What Oklahoma Credits, and Where the Rate Is Posted
Under title 17, section 156 of the Oklahoma Statutes and Corporation Commission rules at OAC 165:40-9, your generation offsets your consumption at full retail energy rates within the billing period. Against a residential price near 12.96¢, every kilowatt-hour the house uses as it is made is worth the full amount.
Curious how $0-down offers work outside Oklahoma? See our free solar programs nationwide.
Beyond your own consumption, net excess generation is purchased at the utility’s avoided energy cost, a wholesale measure applied to the next billing cycle. Oklahoma Gas and Electric posts its avoided-cost figure daily and Public Service Company of Oklahoma posts a monthly one: it is not on the Commission’s net metering page, and it moves with wholesale prices rather than sitting still.
The current figure sat near 4¢/kWh off-peak in 2026, and no one selling you a contract should quote a different one without naming its source. If an offer quotes an Oklahoma export rate, ask which tariff sheet it came from and what date. A price per kilowatt-hour in a power purchase agreement is only assessable against a number you can check, and here that number is posted by your utility.
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The Rule That Decides What Can Be Installed
Two limits sit in the rules and the binding one is not the headline. The overall ceiling is 300 kW, far above any rooftop system. The real constraint is that production may not exceed 125% of your expected peak load.
That is expressed against your own demand rather than a fixed kilowatt figure, so two identical houses can be permitted different systems depending on how they use power. It matters more under third-party ownership than under purchase, because a company’s economics improve with a larger array and the rule caps how large that array can be for your particular household.
Raise it early with any company quoting you. A design that fails the 125% test is a permitting problem rather than a negotiating position, and it is assessed on the usage history you have today rather than the one you expect after an electric vehicle arrives.
Who Claims What Under a Lease Here
The 2026 position is worth stating plainly. Section 25D, the credit a homeowner used to claim on a purchase, is $0 for purchased systems whose installation is completed after December 31, 2025 under Public Law 119-21. Section 48E survives but is a commercial credit, claimed by a business that owns the system, which passes some of the value back through a lower payment.
Because Oklahoma permits third-party ownership, that route is genuinely open here, and it is more competitive against purchase than it was a year ago. Oklahoma also has no state solar tax credit and no rebate, so there is nothing sitting in the ownership column to weigh against the company’s claim.
Section 48E carries a construction-start test tied to July 4, 2026, with a shorter deadline to be switched on for projects that missed it. That shorter deadline varies by project. Ask the company which test the project meets and what happens to your price if the schedule slips.
You Likely Will Not Qualify If
- Your power comes from a cooperative or a municipal system. The Corporation Commission’s rules reach the utilities it regulates. Co-ops and city systems set their own export terms.
- Your design would generate more than 125% of your expected peak load. That is a rule rather than a guideline, assessed on the usage history you have today.
- Your credit history does not clear the provider’s threshold. Third-party ownership is a long financing decision by the company and turns on credit rather than on your roof.
- 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 claims Section 48E.
- You were quoted a specific Oklahoma export rate with no source. Ask which tariff sheet and what date, and check it against the avoided energy cost your utility posts.
Judging an Offer Without the Missing Number
The practical effect of the unknown is smaller than it first appears, because of what the rules already tell you. Self-consumed power is worth your full retail rate, which averages 12.96¢ statewide (your OG&E or PSO rate will differ), and exported power is worth a wholesale rate that is certainly a fraction of it. You do not need the exact fraction to conclude that a system matched to your own daytime use beats one built to sell.
So compare offers on what they charge you rather than on what they promise your exports will earn. Total payments across the full term with any escalator applied, set against the bill savings a correctly sized system produces at retail. Our Oklahoma incentives guide covers the rules in detail and the Oklahoma installer list covers who does the work.
OG&E Posts It Daily, PSO Posts It Monthly: The Number Your PPA Is Priced Against
Leases and PPAs are legal here, so the utility check is about price. Oklahoma Gas and Electric and Public Service Company of Oklahoma both offset your usage at full retail within the billing period, near 12.96¢, and buy net excess at avoided energy cost, which OG&E posts daily on its NEBO page and PSO posts monthly, near 4¢ off-peak in 2026. Make the company name OG&E or PSO on the proposal and put the export rate it modeled, the tariff sheet and the date in writing. If Oklahoma Electric Cooperative, the City of Edmond or another co-op or city system bills you, get its terms first.
Oklahoma Solar FAQs
Can I get free solar panels in Oklahoma?
Yes, in the sense that both leases and power purchase agreements are permitted here, so a company can install a system at no upfront cost and own it. The panels remain the company’s property. The Oklahoma-specific caution is that the export rate an offer is priced against is a wholesale figure near 4¢/kWh, not retail.
What does Oklahoma pay for exported solar?
The utility’s avoided energy cost, a wholesale measure applied to the next billing cycle. OG&E posts a daily figure and PSO a monthly one, near 4¢/kWh off-peak in 2026; it moves with wholesale prices. If an offer quotes a figure, ask which tariff sheet it came from and what date, because a price per kilowatt-hour is only assessable against a number you can check.
How big a system can a company install on my Oklahoma roof?
The overall ceiling is 300 kW, so the limit that actually binds is that production may not exceed 125% of your expected peak load. Because it is expressed against your own demand, two identical houses can be permitted different systems. It matters more under a lease than under purchase, since a company’s economics improve with a larger array and this rule caps how large that array can be for your household.
Who claims the tax credit on an Oklahoma solar lease?
The company. Section 25D, the homeowner credit, is $0 for purchased systems whose installation is completed after December 31, 2025, and the surviving Section 48E is a commercial credit claimed by the business that owns the system, which passes some value back through a lower payment. Oklahoma has no state credit or rebate, so there is nothing in the ownership column to weigh against that.
How should I compare an Oklahoma solar offer?
On what it charges you rather than on what it promises your exports will earn, since that second number is a wholesale rate near 4¢/kWh. Take total payments across the full term with any escalator applied, and set them against the bill savings a correctly sized system produces at the retail rate. Self-consumed power is worth your full retail rate (12.96¢ on statewide average) and exports are worth a fraction of it, which settles the design question without the missing figure.
Judge the payment, not the promised export income. Enter your ZIP code to see who serves your address.
Check your design against the 125% rule
References & Research Sources
The netting mechanics and figures above come from the records below. 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 17, 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 Oklahoma outside those groups. Dated July 22, 2025. Accessed August 17, 2026.
- Oklahoma Corporation Commission. Net metering record. The offset of consumption at full retail energy rates within the billing period, the purchase of net excess at the utility’s avoided energy cost applied to the next billing cycle, the 300 kW ceiling, and the 125% of expected peak load limit; title 17 section 156 of the Oklahoma Statutes and OAC 165:40-9 carry the statute and rule. Per-utility avoided energy cost values move with wholesale prices; OG&E posts a daily figure and PSO a monthly one. Accessed August 17, 2026.
- US Energy Information Administration. Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.A: Average Price of Electricity to Ultimate Customers. The Oklahoma statewide average residential rate of 12.96¢ 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 for purchased systems whose installation is completed after December 31, 2025, and the availability of Section 48E to business owners of residential systems, including its construction-start test tied to July 4, 2026. Accessed August 17, 2026.
