Press: EcoGen America data for journalists
EcoGen America is a U.S. solar research site that publishes state solar costs and incentives and connects homeowners with local solar providers. This page holds the full September 2026 Solar Cost Index for every state, the method, and who to contact. You can check every figure against its state page.
Press contact
Trevor Guilday, Founder of EcoGen America. Trevor leads the EcoGen Solar Cost Index. Email trevor@ecogenamerica.com.
He can send state figures, charts and details on the method.
Found an error? Email contact@ecogenamerica.com with the state, the figure and your source. We will correct it and note the change on the page.
Key findings
$2.89/W
Plain average price of home solar across the 50 states and D.C.: $22,976 for a typical 7.95 kW system, before incentives.
EcoGen Solar Cost Index, September 2026 Edition$2.46 to $3.44
Price per watt runs from Florida, the lowest, to Alabama, the highest of 51.
Prices as of September 25, 2026$0
Federal credit for homes that buy a system in 2026. The 30% 25D credit ended for systems placed in service after December 31, 2025.
Public Law 119-217.5 vs 26.5 years
Price does not decide payback. Massachusetts ($3.02/W) pays back in about 7.5 years. Utah ($3.01/W) takes about 26.5 years.
Simple payback before incentives, from each state pageEvery state: price, size, cost and payback
Sorted from the lowest price per watt to the highest. Click a state to open its cost page and check the figure.
State | Cost per watt | Rank (1 = lowest) | vs US average | Typical size | Typical cost | Size basis | Simple payback before incentives, as on the state page |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
$2.46 | 1st | -$0.43 (-14.9%) | 11.09 kW | $27,281 | Calibrated from Berkeley Lab 2025 data (4,704 systems) | About 11.1 years statewide; 11.4 years (FPL, the largest utility) | |
$2.56 | Tied 2nd | -$0.33 (-11.4%) | 9.33 kW | $23,885 | Berkeley Lab 2025 median (6,646 systems) | About 15.3 years across the utilities we model (44% of homes); 15.1 years (APS, the largest utility) | |
$2.56 | Tied 2nd | -$0.33 (-11.4%) | 8.16 kW | $20,890 | Modeled from neighboring states | About 23.5 years statewide; 22.7 years (Entergy Arkansas, the largest utility) | |
$2.57 | 4th | -$0.32 (-11.1%) | 9.29 kW | $23,875 | Berkeley Lab 2025 median (4,468 systems) | About 18.1 years across the utilities we model (13% of homes); no figure yet for Oncor, the largest utility | |
$2.59 | 5th | -$0.30 (-10.4%) | 9.12 kW | $23,621 | Modeled from neighboring states | About 20.9 years across the utilities we model (42% of homes); 20.7 years (Entergy Mississippi, the largest utility) | |
$2.64 | 6th | -$0.25 (-8.7%) | 7.42 kW | $19,589 | Berkeley Lab 2025 median (121 systems) | About 11.9 years or more across the utilities we model (28% of homes); no figure yet for OG&E, the largest utility | |
$2.65 | 7th | -$0.24 (-8.3%) | 7.77 kW | $20,591 | Berkeley Lab 2025 median (398 systems) | About 18.4 years statewide; 19.5 years (Kentucky Utilities, the largest utility) | |
$2.68 | 8th | -$0.21 (-7.3%) | 9.29 kW | $24,897 | Berkeley Lab 2025 median (4,924 systems) | About 16.4 years across the utilities we model (25% of homes); no figure yet for Nevada Power, the largest utility | |
$2.69 | 9th | -$0.20 (-6.9%) | 7.84 kW | $21,090 | Berkeley Lab 2025 median (295 systems) | About 23.2 years statewide; 26.3 years (Entergy Louisiana, the largest utility) | |
$2.71 | 10th | -$0.18 (-6.2%) | 7.04 kW | $19,078 | Berkeley Lab 2025 median (3,212 systems) | About 10.1 years (PNM, the largest utility and the only one we model, 56% of homes) | |
$2.73 | 11th | -$0.16 (-5.5%) | 7.13 kW | $19,465 | Berkeley Lab 2025 median (599 systems) | About 13.8 years statewide; 12.7 years (NorthWestern Energy, the largest utility) | |
$2.74 | 12th | -$0.15 (-5.2%) | 7.69 kW | $21,071 | Berkeley Lab 2025 median (381 systems) | About 16.0 years statewide; 15.7 years (Ameren Missouri, the largest utility) | |
$2.76 | 13th | -$0.13 (-4.5%) | 9.76 kW | $26,938 | Berkeley Lab 2025 median (5,650 systems) | About 15.9 years (Dominion) | |
$2.77 | Tied 14th | -$0.12 (-4.2%) | 7.84 kW | $21,717 | Berkeley Lab 2025 median (1,292 systems) | About 14.8 years statewide; 14.0 years (Ohio Power Company, the largest utility) | |
$2.77 | Tied 14th | -$0.12 (-4.2%) | 8.00 kW | $22,160 | Berkeley Lab 2025 median (8,617 systems) | About 16.2 years statewide; 14.6 years (PGE, the largest utility) | |
$2.78 | 16th | -$0.11 (-3.8%) | 9.21 kW | $25,604 | Calibrated from Berkeley Lab 2025 data (351 systems) | About 16.7 years statewide; 15.9 years (Georgia Power, the largest utility) | |
$2.79 | 17th | -$0.10 (-3.5%) | 9.42 kW | $26,282 | Berkeley Lab 2025 median (3,258 systems) | About 12.5 years statewide; 12.3 years (Dominion, the largest utility) | |
$2.80 | Tied 18th | -$0.09 (-3.1%) | 9.52 kW | $26,656 | Calibrated from Berkeley Lab 2025 data (13,220 systems) | About 9.3 years statewide; 9.8 years (Eversource, the largest utility) | |
$2.80 | Tied 18th | -$0.09 (-3.1%) | 10.76 kW | $30,128 | Calibrated from Berkeley Lab 2025 data (5,618 systems) | About 9.4 years statewide; 9.3 years (BGE, the largest utility) | |
$2.83 | 20th | -$0.06 (-2.1%) | 10.60 kW | $29,998 | Berkeley Lab 2023 median (153 systems) | About 12.7 years statewide; 11.6 years (Delmarva Power, the largest utility) | |
$2.85 | Tied 21st | -$0.04 (-1.4%) | 6.70 kW | $19,095 | Berkeley Lab 2025 median (120,456 systems) | Not on our page | |
$2.85 | Tied 21st | -$0.04 (-1.4%) | 8.45 kW | $24,083 | Berkeley Lab 2025 median (129 systems) | About 14.5 years statewide; 12.2 years (Dominion Energy, the largest utility) | |
$2.85 | Tied 21st | -$0.04 (-1.4%) | 7.62 kW | $21,717 | Modeled from neighboring states | About 19.6 years statewide; 19.3 years (Xcel Energy, the largest utility) | |
$2.86 | 24th | -$0.03 (-1.0%) | 8.64 kW | $24,710 | Berkeley Lab 2025 median (3,743 systems) | About 18.1 years statewide; 13.9 years (Puget Sound Energy, the largest utility) | |
$2.87 | Tied 25th | -$0.02 (-0.7%) | 7.22 kW | $20,721 | Berkeley Lab 2025 median (195 systems) | About 14 years (Evergy or Liberty, sized to your use) | |
$2.87 | Tied 25th | -$0.02 (-0.7%) | 8.26 kW | $23,706 | Berkeley Lab 2025 median (1,199 systems) | About 10.8 years statewide; 10.6 to 10.7 years (FirstEnergy Pennsylvania, the largest utility) | |
$2.87 | Tied 25th | -$0.02 (-0.7%) | 7.91 kW | $22,702 | Berkeley Lab 2025 median (2,480 systems) | About 8.3 years statewide; 8.3 years (Rhode Island Energy, the largest utility) | |
$2.91 | Tied 28th | +$0.02 (+0.7%) | 7.57 kW | $22,029 | Modeled from neighboring states | About 20.6 years statewide; 18.5 years (OPPD, the largest utility) | |
$2.91 | Tied 28th | +$0.02 (+0.7%) | 11.29 kW | $32,854 | Berkeley Lab 2025 median (1,127 systems) | About 16 years (Green Mountain Power, RECs to the utility); about 23 if you keep them | |
$2.92 | Tied 30th | +$0.03 (+1.0%) | 9.87 kW | $28,820 | Berkeley Lab 2025 median (339 systems) | About 10.1 years statewide; 9.8 years (Eversource, the largest utility) | |
$2.92 | Tied 30th | +$0.03 (+1.0%) | 8.97 kW | $26,192 | Calibrated from Berkeley Lab 2025 data (15,442 systems) | About 9.3 years statewide; 8.7 years (PSE&G, the largest utility) | |
$2.93 | 32nd | +$0.04 (+1.4%) | 9.70 kW | $28,421 | Modeled from neighboring states | About 18.8 years statewide; 16.5 years (Appalachian Power, the largest utility) | |
$2.96 | 33rd | +$0.07 (+2.4%) | 7.44 kW | $22,022 | Berkeley Lab 2025 median (307 systems) | About 25.7 years statewide; 27.7 years (Idaho Power, the largest utility) | |
$2.97 | 34th | +$0.08 (+2.8%) | 8.34 kW | $24,770 | Berkeley Lab 2025 median (119 systems) | About 20.1 years across the utilities we model (36% of homes); no figure yet for Duke Energy Indiana, the largest utility | |
$3.01 | Tied 35th | +$0.12 (+4.2%) | 7.89 kW | $23,749 | Berkeley Lab 2025 median (481 systems) | About 26.5 years statewide (Rocky Mountain Power, 81% of homes) | |
$3.01 | Tied 35th | +$0.12 (+4.2%) | 7.91 kW | $23,809 | Berkeley Lab 2025 median (1,837 systems) | About 13.7 years statewide; 12.8 years (We Energies, the largest utility) | |
$3.02 | Tied 37th | +$0.13 (+4.5%) | 7.00 kW | $21,140 | Berkeley Lab 2025 median (6,702 systems) | About 12.2 years statewide; 12.1 years (Xcel Energy, the largest utility) | |
$3.02 | Tied 37th | +$0.13 (+4.5%) | 8.74 kW | $26,395 | Calibrated from Berkeley Lab 2025 data (8,306 systems) | About 7.5 years statewide; 8.1 years (Eversource, the largest utility) | |
$3.02 | Tied 37th | +$0.13 (+4.5%) | 8.98 kW | $27,120 | Calibrated from Berkeley Lab 2025 data (11,045 systems) | About 8.8 years statewide; 7.2 years (Con Edison, the largest utility) | |
$3.05 | Tied 40th | +$0.16 (+5.5%) | 9.23 kW | $28,152 | Berkeley Lab 2025 median (19,742 systems) | About 5 years if the Illinois Shines payment reaches you (example) | |
$3.05 | Tied 40th | +$0.16 (+5.5%) | 8.89 kW | $27,115 | Calibrated from Berkeley Lab 2025 data (2,549 systems) | About 8.9 years statewide; 9.2 years (Central Maine Power, the largest utility) | |
$3.07 | 42nd | +$0.18 (+6.2%) | 7.34 kW | $22,534 | Berkeley Lab 2025 median (619 systems) | About 20.3 years (MidAmerican, the only utility we model, 51% of homes) | |
$3.09 | 43rd | +$0.20 (+6.9%) | 6.63 kW | $20,487 | Berkeley Lab 2025 median (499 systems) | About 14.9 years statewide; 14.9 years (DTE, the largest utility) | |
$3.11 | 44th | +$0.22 (+7.6%) | 8.06 kW | $25,067 | Berkeley Lab 2025 median (2,106 systems) | About 14.5 years statewide; 13.9 years (Xcel Energy, the largest utility) | |
$3.14 | Tied 45th | +$0.25 (+8.7%) | 7.49 kW | $23,519 | Berkeley Lab 2025 median (316 systems) | About 7.9 years statewide; 7.7 years (Hawaiian Electric on Oahu, the largest utility) | |
$3.14 | Tied 45th | +$0.25 (+8.7%) | 7.04 kW | $22,106 | Berkeley Lab 2025 median (129 systems) | About 17.5 years statewide; 16.0 years (Rocky Mountain Power, the largest utility) | |
$3.15 | 47th | +$0.26 (+9.0%) | 7.77 kW | $24,476 | Modeled from neighboring states | About 16.0 years across the utilities we model (50% of homes); 19.4 years (Chugach, the largest utility) | |
$3.18 | 48th | +$0.29 (+10.0%) | 9.11 kW | $28,970 | Modeled from neighboring states | About 27.8 years across the utilities we model (29% of homes); no figure yet for Nashville Electric Service, the largest utility | |
$3.21 | 49th | +$0.32 (+11.1%) | 9.03 kW | $28,986 | Berkeley Lab 2025 median (1,975 systems) | About 11.4 years (Pepco, the only utility), power savings alone | |
$3.39 | 50th | +$0.50 (+17.3%) | 7.59 kW | $25,730 | Modeled from neighboring states | About 25.7 years across the utilities we model (43% of homes); 25.2 years (Xcel Energy, the largest utility) | |
$3.44 | 51st | +$0.55 (+19.0%) | 9.16 kW | $31,510 | Modeled from neighboring states | About 29.3 years statewide; 30.6 years (Alabama Power, the largest utility) | |
Not priced | Not ranked | Not in the average | 3.50 kW | Not priced | Modeled home array, panels only | Not shown: not priced |
Ties share one rank. Example: Arizona and Arkansas are both $2.56 and both “tied 2nd”. The typical cost is the typical size times the price per watt, before incentives and financing. Puerto Rico is shown separately and is not part of the national average.
Price per watt by state
Florida$2.46
Arizona$2.56
Arkansas$2.56
Texas$2.57
Mississippi$2.59
Oklahoma$2.64
Kentucky$2.65
Nevada$2.68
Louisiana$2.69
New Mexico$2.71
Montana$2.73
Missouri$2.74
North Carolina$2.76
Ohio$2.77
Oregon$2.77
Georgia$2.78
Virginia$2.79
Connecticut$2.80
Maryland$2.80
Delaware$2.83
California$2.85
South Carolina$2.85
South Dakota$2.85
Washington$2.86
Kansas$2.87
Pennsylvania$2.87
Rhode Island$2.87
Nebraska$2.91
Vermont$2.91
New Hampshire$2.92
New Jersey$2.92
West Virginia$2.93
Idaho$2.96
Indiana$2.97
Utah$3.01
Wisconsin$3.01
Colorado$3.02
Massachusetts$3.02
New York$3.02
Illinois$3.05
Maine$3.05
Iowa$3.07
Michigan$3.09
Minnesota$3.11
Hawaii$3.14
Wyoming$3.14
Alaska$3.15
Tennessee$3.18
Washington D.C.$3.21
North Dakota$3.39
Alabama$3.44
Bars start at $2.30. The orange line marks the $2.89 US average. Free to reuse with credit and a link to this page.
How the Index works
- What it is: a modeled installed price per watt for a typical home solar system in each state, before incentives. It is a state benchmark, not a quote for one home.
- Starting cost: the Q1 2025 Solar Photovoltaic System Cost Benchmarks from the Department of Energy’s National Laboratory of the Rockies (formerly NREL).
- State labor: adjusted with Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data for solar installers, or electricians where installer wages are not published.
- System size: starts from Berkeley Lab’s median installed size for single-family homes in each state. Nine states with too few installs are modeled from neighboring states: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee and West Virginia.
- Checks: calibrated against current marketplace quote data, then compared with real installed prices in the 21 states covered by Berkeley Lab’s 2026 transacted-price data.
- National figure: the plain average of the 50 states and D.C. (add the 51 values and divide by 51). It is not weighted by population or installs.
- Payback column: copied from each state page. Most state pages model payback for the main utilities, with each utility’s own price and export credit. That is often slower than the best-case formula on the method page, which counts every exported kWh at full retail. Read the state page before you compare two states.
- What it is not: not a personal quote, not a savings guarantee, not an installer ranking and not a nationwide transaction average. It is not endorsed by the agencies or laboratories whose data it uses.
Full method and sources: EcoGen Solar Cost Index methodology. National page: cost of solar panels by state.
How to cite and reuse
- Cite as: “Source: EcoGen Solar Cost Index (September 2026 Edition), ecogenamerica.com/cost-of-solar-panels/”.
- Reuse: you may quote these figures and reuse the chart and table. Please credit EcoGen America and link to this page or to the state page you used.
- Dates: prices as of September 25, 2026. Each state page gives the dates of its own rate and tariff sources.
- Homeowner data: cite as shown under Solar homeowner data.
Solar homeowner data
What homeowners told EcoGen America when they asked for solar quotes or used our solar calculator. The answers are self-reported by people who were already looking at solar, so they are not a random sample of all homes.
- 80% of calculator users typed a power bill above their state’s average for all homes (n = 1,777, Jun 2022–Jun 2025, vs EIA 2024).
- Since January 2025, at least 56% of people who asked us for an estimate said their bill is over $200 a month (n = 1,389, Jan 2025–Oct 2026).
- 19.5% estimated their credit score below 630 (n = 15,990, Jul 2023–Jun 2025). Same dates by state: 9.3% in New Jersey (n = 496), 22.6% in Texas (n = 873).
- 51% of calculator users also wanted a personal installation quote. The rest wanted the numbers only (n = 1,315, Dec 2022–Jul 2025).
State tables, method and the full CSV: Solar homeowner data. Cite as: “Source: EcoGen America homeowner data, ecogenamerica.com/solar-homeowner-data/”.
Other EcoGen data
- EcoGen Solar Database: the state inputs behind our figures and the limits of state comparisons.
About EcoGen America
- EcoGen America is owned by Digital Economics LLC.
- EcoGen does not sell or install solar equipment.
- Solar providers pay EcoGen for introductions to homeowners who ask for quotes. Companies cannot pay to change our editorial conclusions or rankings. See how we make money.
How EcoGen makes money. When a homeowner asks for quotes, we share the request with solar providers serving their area, and those providers pay us for the introduction. No provider paid to appear on this page or to change any figure on it.
Change log
- November 4, 2026: payback column updated to the statewide and largest-utility figures now on every state page.
- November 4, 2026: payback for Arizona and West Virginia updated to the statewide figures now on their state pages.
- November 4, 2026: added the solar homeowner data section.
- November 4, 2026: first published, with the September 2026 Index for all 50 states, D.C. and Puerto Rico.
