In most of Louisiana, solar pays back slowly, because the power you send to the grid earns only a few cents. Simple payback before incentives is about 23.2 years statewide and 26.3 years on Entergy Louisiana, the largest utility, or 22.6 to 30.3 years depending on how much power you use at home. New Orleans is different: Entergy New Orleans still uses net metering, and the same system pays back in about 14.2 years. Start with the name on your bill.
Louisiana, simple payback before incentivesAbout 23.2 years
Entergy Louisiana, the largest utilityAbout 26.3 years (22.6 to 30.3)
Typical owned 7.84 kW system at $21,090 cash (EcoGen Solar Cost Index, September 2026), Entergy Louisiana’s EIA price less its fixed charges, 11.343¢, and 3.86 cents per kWh export credit, with 40% of the solar power used at home as a modeled share (28% to 55% gives the range); about 14.2 years with New Orleans net metering. No upkeep or price rises counted. See the math.
- Your utility: Entergy New Orleans keeps net metering. Entergy Louisiana, Cleco, SWEPCO and the co-ops pay 3.58 to 3.99 cents per kWh for exports.
- Daytime use: outside New Orleans, every kWh you use as the panels make it saves about three times what an export earns.
- Time in home: on the state rule the example takes about 26 years at Entergy Louisiana; in New Orleans about 14. Plan to stay or expect to sell the panels with the house.
2026 rules: new home systems get no 30% federal homeowner credit (IRS), and Louisiana has no state solar credit. Outside New Orleans, homes connected after December 31, 2019 earn an avoided-cost credit for exported power, reset every year.
How we checked this guide
Export rules come from the Louisiana Public Service Commission and the Entergy Louisiana and Entergy New Orleans rate sheets; the price of power from the U.S. Energy Information Administration; the example system from the EcoGen Solar Cost Index. Where we had to assume a number, the page says so.
The writer and checker shown above are EcoGen staff. EcoGen is paid when homeowners request quotes, which is explained beside the quote form. Read our editorial standards.
Two Louisianas: which one is your roof in?
Louisiana homes run air conditioning hard, and the sun is strongest when they do. What complicates solar is who regulates your utility. The Louisiana Public Service Commission (PSC) sets the rules for Entergy Louisiana, Cleco, Southwestern Electric Power (SWEPCO) and the co-ops. Since its order of September 19, 2019, power their new solar customers send to the grid earns an export credit at avoided cost, roughly the wholesale price. Entergy New Orleans answers to the New Orleans City Council, which kept net metering: each kWh (kilowatt-hour, the unit your bill counts) you send out cancels one you buy. Read each row across.
Who sends your bill
Worth a closer look
Entergy New Orleans, where each kWh you export cancels a kWh you buy that month.
Pause and check
Entergy Louisiana, Cleco, SWEPCO or a co-op, and the quote still credits exports at the full price.
Check next: the utility name on your bill and the export credit the quote used.
Daytime power use
Worth a closer look
Someone is home in the day, and air conditioning runs through the afternoon while the roof produces.
Pause and check
The house is empty until evening, so a large share of the output is exported at a few cents.
Check next: the home-use share the quote assumed, and how it was worked out.
System size
Worth a closer look
Sized to the power the house uses, not to fill the roof.
Pause and check
Sized past your own use. Outside New Orleans the extra kWh earn about 3.86 cents per kWh each.
Check next: your last 12 months of kWh next to the yearly kWh the quote expects.
Roof and storms
Worth a closer look
A sound roof with many years left, priced near the Index’s $2.69 per watt.
Pause and check
A roof that will need replacing long before the panels wear out, which means paying to remove and refit the panels.
Check next: the roof’s age, the racking’s wind rating and the cost to remove and reinstall.
One system, two export rules: the Louisiana numbers
Simple payback is the years your savings take to cover what you paid: net cost divided by yearly savings. Here is the typical Louisiana home system on Entergy Louisiana, the state’s largest utility under the PSC rule.
- Cash price
- $21,090
- Confirmed incentives
- $0
- Year-one production
- 11,682 kWh
- Used at home / exported
- 40% / 60%
- Entergy Louisiana price for home use (EIA, 12 months, less fixed charges)
- $0.11343/kWh
- Export credit
- $0.03864/kWh
- Upkeep and price rises
- Not counted
- Used-at-home value
11,682 × 40% × $0.11343$530/yr - Export value
11,682 × 60% × $0.03864$271/yr - Yearly savings
$530 + $271$801/yr - Simple cash payback
$21,090 ÷ $801about 26.3 years
Inputs: the EcoGen Solar Cost Index typical Louisiana system (7.84 kW, $21,090 cash, September 2026; 1,490 kWh per kW a year). No incentive to subtract. Export credit: Entergy Louisiana’s 2026 rate. Price: Entergy Louisiana’s own 12.338¢ average (EIA utility data, August 2025 to July 2026), less its $11.99 a month in fixed charges: 11.343¢. Too few Entergy Louisiana solar homes report their exports to give a measured share, so 40% used at home is a modeled share: at 55% the payback is 22.6 years, at 28% it is 30.3 years. No upkeep and no price rises are counted. This is simple payback before incentives from our per-utility figures of October 19, 2026.
Now move the same house inside the New Orleans line. Nothing about the roof or the system price changes. Entergy New Orleans power costs a little more, 12.682¢ against 11.343¢ once fixed charges are taken out, but the big difference is what the 60% sent to the grid is worth: a few cents each, or a kWh you no longer have to buy.
| Scenario | Export credit | Export value | Yearly savings | Simple payback |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entergy Louisiana | $0.03864/kWh | $271 | $801 | about 26.3 years |
| Entergy New Orleans | $0.12682/kWh | $889 | $1,481 | about 14.2 years |
Most of the gap is export value, so a quote built on one statewide script gets one side of the line wrong. Cleco pays a credit close to Entergy Louisiana’s, and a Cleco system connected after 2019 pays back in about 23.7 years (19.9 to 27.8). Weighted by customers across Entergy Louisiana, Cleco and Entergy New Orleans, Louisiana’s figure is 23.2 years. We hold no usable export share yet for SWEPCO or the co-ops, so we print no payback for them.
Run your own Louisiana numbers
It starts with the Entergy Louisiana case. Raise the share used at home if someone is home all day, or enter your own quote, and press Calculate. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere.
Example result
about 26.3 years
simple cash payback
- Used-at-home value
- $530/yr
- Export value
- $271/yr
- Owner costs
- −$0/yr
- Yearly savings
- $801/yr
- Net cost
- $21,090
Starts with the Entergy Louisiana case. For New Orleans net metering, set the export credit to your price per kWh. Flat first-year values; rates, panel wear and repairs will change the result.
Why the power you keep is worth about three times as much
Louisiana homes paid an average of 12.99¢ per kWh from August 2025 to July 2026, and Entergy Louisiana homes 12.34¢, or 11.343¢ once its fixed charges are taken out (EIA). Outside New Orleans, a kWh you use as the panels make it avoids your utility’s price. A kWh you export earns 3.86 cents per kWh at Entergy Louisiana. The two are metered separately and never netted.
Used at home: 4,673 kWh. Each one replaces power you would have bought, so it saves the price per kWh ($0.11343 here).
Sent to the grid: 7,009 kWh. These earn whatever your utility pays for exports ($0.03864 here). That can be far less. The 40/60 split is a modeled share, not a measured one.
The credit rose this year: Entergy Louisiana paid 2.59 cents per kWh until April 1, 2026 and pays 3.86 cents per kWh now. It follows wholesale prices, and the yearly reset can push it back down. City-owned utilities, such as Lafayette Utilities System, are outside the PSC rule; ask yours for its solar rate in writing.
Check which Louisiana rule your address is on
A Louisiana quote should say whether you are on the state export credit or New Orleans net metering. Ask before anything else.
Solar providers that serve your area may contact you, and they pay EcoGen for the introduction. How we make money.
What New Orleans net metering changes
On an Entergy New Orleans bill, the kWh you send to the grid cancel kWh you buy in the same month, one for one. A sunny afternoon pays for that evening’s air conditioning at full value. Spare kWh roll forward to later months; only a balance left when you close the account is paid out, at a low rate. Home systems up to 25 kW qualify, with a one-time meter charge of $50.
Two cautions. Entergy New Orleans does not connect solar in its Downtown Network Area, which includes the French Quarter. And Entergy New Orleans sets its own rates, so put the price per kWh from your own bill into the calculator.
Buying a house that already has panels
Systems installed by December 31, 2019 kept the old one-for-one terms, even outside New Orleans, until December 31, 2034, and the terms stay with the house when it is sold. After that, exports earn the avoided-cost credit. That is a clear date to plan around: ask the seller for the interconnection agreement, which shows when the system was connected, and run the calculator with today’s export credit to see the bill after December 31, 2034. Adding panels to an old system needs a new application and ends the old terms.
Before you sign a Louisiana solar quote
Get two or three quotes. One that cannot answer these is guessing about your utility.
- Your utility, by name. The one on your bill, not a statewide average.
- The export credit used. Outside New Orleans: this year’s avoided-cost rate, not the price you pay for power.
- A lower-credit test. The same design with a lower export credit, since the rate resets every year.
- No tax credit subtracted. Louisiana has no solar income tax credit, and the federal credit ended for systems finished after December 31, 2025.
- Address check in New Orleans. Written word from Entergy New Orleans that your address can connect solar.
Batteries are judged separately; Entergy Louisiana and Entergy New Orleans both pay battery rewards, covered in our Louisiana incentives guide. Loan terms: our solar financing guide.
Compare Louisiana solar quotes
Ask each installer to name your utility and the export rule it used. Enter your ZIP code to request quotes from solar providers that serve your area.
How EcoGen is paid
EcoGen America does not sell or install solar. When you request quotes, we pass your request to solar providers serving your area, and they pay us for the introduction. Providers can include installers, solar marketplaces and lead exchanges, and more than one may contact you. You never pay us.
More Louisiana solar guides
- Louisiana solar guide: utilities, incentives and installers in one place
- Louisiana solar companies: compare local installers before you request quotes
- Louisiana solar incentives: export credits, New Orleans net metering and batteries
- What solar costs in Louisiana
- Free solar panels in Louisiana: what a no-money-down offer means
- Are solar panels worth it? The national guide and payback calculator
All 51 state guides
Louisiana solar questions
Are solar panels worth it in Louisiana?
It depends on your utility and on when you use power. Simple payback before incentives is about 23.2 years statewide, 26.3 years on Entergy Louisiana (22.6 to 30.3, depending on home use) and about 14.2 in New Orleans. A home that uses most of its solar power as it is made does better than the example; an empty house in the day does worse.
Is New Orleans different for solar?
Yes. The New Orleans City Council regulates Entergy New Orleans, not the state Public Service Commission, so the state export rule does not apply there. Each kWh you send to the grid cancels a kWh you buy that month. Home systems up to 25 kW qualify, outside the Downtown Network Area.
What does Louisiana pay for exported solar power?
Outside New Orleans, homes connected after December 31, 2019 earn the utility’s avoided cost for exports. For 2026 that is 3.86 cents per kWh at Entergy Louisiana, 3.85 cents at Cleco and 3.66 cents at SWEPCO, and 3.58 to 3.99 cents per kWh across all 15 utilities on the state table. Each rate resets once a year.
What happens to older Louisiana solar systems in 2034?
Systems installed by December 31, 2019 keep one-for-one credit for exports until December 31, 2034, even if the home is sold. After that, exports earn the avoided-cost rate. A material change to an old system needs a new application and ends the old terms, so ask before adding panels.
How big should a Louisiana solar system be?
No bigger than the power your home uses in a year. Outside New Orleans, every kWh past that earns about 3.86 cents per kWh instead of the 12.99¢ average price, so a larger system returns less per dollar. Entergy Louisiana caps home systems at 25 kW, far above what most homes need.
Are there any Louisiana solar tax credits left?
No credit for the panels. The state’s 2025 Form IT-540 instructions list no solar credit, and the federal homeowner credit ended for systems finished after December 31, 2025. Solar equipment on a home you own and live in is exempt from property tax under La. R.S. 47:1706; ask your parish assessor to confirm.
Sources, method and corrections
The example uses the EcoGen Solar Cost Index typical Louisiana system (September 2026), Entergy Louisiana’s own EIA price less its fixed charges and its 2026 export credit. 40% of the solar power used at home and 60% sent to the grid is a modeled share, because the measured export data is thin; the range uses 28% and 55%. For New Orleans we use Entergy New Orleans’s own EIA price less its $8.07 customer charge, 12.682¢, and credit every exported kWh at that price, because net metering cancels one bought kWh for each one sent out; your price per kWh will differ. These are our per-utility figures of October 19, 2026, simple payback before incentives, with no upkeep and no price rises counted. Simple payback uses flat first-year values. The calculator runs in your browser and sends nothing.
Updated October 19, 2026: paybacks from our per-utility figures, with each utility’s EIA price less its fixed charges (Entergy Louisiana 11.343¢, Entergy New Orleans 12.682¢) and no owner-cost allowance. Earlier: system size, price and electricity price moved to the September 2026 Index (7.84 kW, $21,090, 12.99¢).
Spotted an error? Tell us through our corrections and feedback process.
- Louisiana Public Service Commission: Electric Net Metering (checked September 30, 2026)
- Louisiana Public Service Commission: 2026 avoided cost rates by utility (checked September 30, 2026)
- Louisiana Public Service Commission: 2025 avoided cost rates by utility (last year’s rates)
- Entergy Louisiana: Rider Schedule DG with Attachment A
- Entergy Louisiana: Net metering
- Entergy New Orleans: Net metering and distributed generation
- Entergy New Orleans: Net Metering Service Schedule NM-4
- Louisiana Department of Revenue: 2025 Form IT-540 instructions (no state solar income tax credit)
- Louisiana Legislature: La. R.S. 47:1706 (property tax exemption)
- U.S. EIA: average residential electricity price by state (12-month average, as used in the Cost Index)
- U.S. EIA: Form EIA-861M, sales and revenue by utility (Entergy Louisiana and Entergy New Orleans average prices, August 2025 to July 2026)
- IRS: Residential Clean Energy Credit
- EcoGen Solar Cost Index, September 2026: what solar costs in Louisiana (typical system)
