Washington had 431.5 MW of installed rooftop solar at the end of 2024, per US Energy Information Administration data, more than any other state with no free-solar providers at all, and it was built without a single leasing company. It was built instead on a statutory right to one-for-one retail credit, and that right has two expiry conditions written into it. The largest utility in the state has already passed one of them.
The Biggest Market Nobody Leases In
Free solar means a lease or a power purchase agreement, under which a company owns the equipment on your roof. Per the Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency, Washington is one of 17 states with no current residential third-party ownership offerings, and on US Energy Information Administration data it holds the largest installed base in that group by a wide margin, having grown 15.6% in a year.
Every one of those megawatts belongs to a household. That is worth holding on to when a national advertisement reaches you here, because it settles the question the advertisement is designed to raise: buying plainly works in Washington, at Washington’s rates, without anybody offering to do it for free.
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A Right With Two Expiry Conditions
Chapter 80.60 of the Revised Code of Washington requires utilities to offer kilowatt-hour-for-kilowatt-hour retail credits to new customer-generators, but only until whichever of two things happens first.
Condition | What it means | Status |
|---|---|---|
Capacity trigger | Cumulative net metered capacity reaches 4% of the utility’s 1996 peak demand | Puget Sound Energy has passed its threshold |
Date trigger | June 30, 2029 | Roughly three years away |
The 1996 baseline is the detail people miss. The ceiling is not 4% of today’s demand; it is 4% of what the utility’s peak was thirty years ago, a much smaller number, which is how a large utility reaches it while rooftop solar is still a modest share of the system.
Having passed its threshold, Puget Sound Energy has not closed the door. Schedule 150 is available to customers applying until December 31, 2025 or when a new net metering rate schedule becomes available, whichever is later, and PSE has said it will keep it open until a successor exists and give notice before closing. “Whichever is later” is what keeps it open now that the first date has passed. What keeps net metering available to a PSE customer today is a commitment rather than a right.
This is not a warning that Washington is ending net metering, and it is not a reason to be rushed. It is a reason to treat the interconnection application as a step with its own schedule, checked before you commit. Ask your utility whether its schedule is open today, and get the answer dated.
The Sales Tax Exemption Is the Real Money
Washington has no personal income tax, so there is no state solar tax credit and there cannot be one in the usual form. What the state does instead is remove the sales tax, and in a state where combined state and local rates commonly run near 9%, that is the largest single benefit available to a Washington homeowner.
Under RCW 82.08.962 and its use tax companion at 82.12.962, residential systems under 100 kW are fully exempt from state and local sales and use tax, covering panels, inverters, racking, wiring and batteries installed as part of the same project. Current authorization runs through 2029.
Because it comes straight off the invoice, it is easy to miss when comparing proposals. Check that every quote presents the exempt price, and that any battery is written into the same project.
You Likely Will Not Qualify If
- You are answering a national free solar advertisement. Washington is among the 17 states with no current residential third-party ownership providers, despite having the largest rooftop market in that group. If one of those advertisers does offer you a lease or power purchase agreement, read for the annual payment escalator, an increase of 1 to 3% per year written into most of these contracts, which compounds over a 20 to 25 year term.
- You are expecting a Washington state solar tax credit. There is no personal income tax here, so there is no return for a credit to reduce. The sales tax exemption is the state’s contribution.
- You are counting on the 30% federal credit. Section 25D is $0 for purchased systems from January 1, 2026, and Section 48E is claimed by a business owner through arrangements Washington has no providers for.
- You are planning to bank credit for more than a year. Anything unused is granted to the utility each March 31 without compensation.
- You are buying a battery separately from the array. The exemption covers storage installed as part of the same project, which is a reason to keep it in one contract.
Getting the Application In Is the Whole Task
One more provision shapes the design. Under RCW 80.60.030, any credit remaining in your account is granted to the utility each March 31 without compensation. As reset dates go it suits this climate, arriving after the winter has drawn down whatever the summer banked, but it means a system sized above your annual consumption produces power credited at retail and then surrendered for nothing.
Washington is a good state for rooftop solar right now, with strengths that carry expiration dates. Credit at your utility’s own retail rate (a statewide residential average of 14.09¢ per kWh), a full sales tax exemption through 2029, and a March reset that suits the climate all favor a homeowner acting within the next couple of years.
None of which argues for a hurried decision or a system larger than the house needs. It argues for confirming your utility’s schedule is open, then filing. Our Washington incentives guide covers the statute in detail and the Washington installer list covers who does the work.
Washington Solar FAQs
No company currently offers them. DSIRE lists Washington among 17 states with no current residential third-party ownership providers, and yet federal energy data puts the state’s installed rooftop base at 431.5 MW at the end of 2024, the largest in that group, up 15.6% in a year. Every one of those megawatts belongs to a household, which settles the question a national advertisement is designed to raise.
It is the capacity trigger that ends a utility’s statutory obligation to offer retail net metering to new customers, set at 4% of that utility’s 1996 peak demand. The 1996 baseline is the key: the ceiling is 4% of what peak demand was thirty years ago, not of today’s, which is why a large utility can reach it while rooftop solar remains a small share of the system. The other trigger is June 30, 2029, whichever comes first.
PSE has passed the 4% capacity threshold but has not closed its Schedule 150 tariff. It is available to customers applying until December 31, 2025 or when a new net metering rate schedule becomes available, whichever is later, and PSE has said it will keep it open until a successor exists and give notice before closing. What keeps it available to a PSE customer today is a commitment rather than a right, so ask directly and get the answer dated.
Residential systems under 100 kW are fully exempt from state and local sales and use tax under RCW 82.08.962 and 82.12.962, covering panels, inverters, racking, wiring and batteries installed as part of the same project, with authorization through 2029. In a state where combined rates commonly run near 9%, it is the largest single benefit available, and because it comes off the invoice it is easy to miss when comparing quotes.
Yes. Under RCW 80.60.030 any credit remaining in your account is granted to the utility each March 31 without compensation. As reset dates go it suits the climate, arriving after the winter draws down what the summer banked, but it means a system sized above your annual consumption produces power credited at retail and then surrendered for nothing.
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References & Research Sources
The figures and program terms above come from the primary records below. Whether Schedule 150 remains open on any given date is a question for the utility, and the answer should be dated; capacity figures are 2024 data. Sources accessed between June 10 and August 17, 2026, unless a different date is listed.
- pv magazine USA. States without residential solar third-party ownership may become holes in the market after 2025. Analysis drawing on DSIRE and US Energy Information Administration data: the 17-state count, and Washington’s 431.5 MW installed residential base at the end of 2024 with 15.6% twelve-month growth, the largest in that group. Dated July 22, 2025. Accessed August 17, 2026.
- Washington State Legislature. Revised Code of Washington, chapter 80.60: Net metering of electricity. The obligation to offer kilowatt-hour-for-kilowatt-hour retail credits until cumulative capacity reaches 4% of the utility’s 1996 peak demand or until June 30, 2029, whichever comes first. Accessed August 17, 2026.
- Washington State Legislature. RCW 80.60.030: Net metering system rates and charges. The granting of unused credits to the utility each March 31 without compensation. Accessed August 17, 2026.
- Puget Sound Energy. Electric Schedule 150: Net Metering Service. Availability to applicants until December 31, 2025 or when a new net metering rate schedule becomes available, whichever is later, with the company’s commitment to give notice before closing. Accessed August 17, 2026.
- Washington State Legislature. RCW 82.08.962 and RCW 82.12.962: Sales and use tax exemptions for solar energy systems. The exemption covering residential systems under 100 kW, including storage installed as part of the same project, with authorization through 2029. Accessed August 17, 2026.
- US Energy Information Administration. Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.A: Average Price of Electricity to Ultimate Customers. The Washington statewide average residential rate of 14.09
- Internal Revenue Service. One, Big, Beautiful Bill provisions. The Public Law 119-21 termination of the Section 25D residential credit and the availability of Section 48E to business owners of residential systems. Accessed August 17, 2026.
