In North Dakota, solar pays only for the power you use yourself. Extra power sells back for a few cents. In our per-utility figures a typical owned system takes about 25.2 years to pay for itself at Xcel Energy and about 22.5 years at Montana-Dakota Utilities, close to the 25 years panels usually last.
Xcel Energy, simple payback before incentivesAbout 25.2 years
Montana-Dakota UtilitiesAbout 22.5 years
Typical owned 7.59 kW North Dakota system at $25,730 cash (EcoGen Solar Cost Index, September 2026), no incentives, each utility’s own EIA price with its fixed charge taken out, and about 20% of output sold back, the share reported to EIA. No upkeep or price rises counted. See the math.
- Your use: a home that uses more than its panels make, every month, keeps the most value.
- Size: match summer output to summer use, not the whole year.
- Utility: Xcel, MDU and Otter Tail follow a PSC rule. Co-ops set their own, often with a monthly fee.
2026 rules: new home systems get no 30% federal homeowner credit (IRS). North Dakota has no solar rebate. Xcel Energy’s buyback price rose to 3.646 cents per kWh on March 1, 2026; Montana-Dakota Utilities’ rose to 3.416 cents per kWh on January 1, 2026.
How we checked this guide
Buyback prices come from rate sheets filed with the Public Service Commission and from co-op schedules; tax rules from the Century Code and the Tax Commissioner; the electricity price from the U.S. EIA. Assumed numbers are labelled.
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.
Why the bar for solar sits high in North Dakota
Power is cheap here, there is no rebate or tax credit for a new system, and power you do not use sells back for a few cents. Only the last one is yours to steer: each kWh your home uses saves the full price, each one left over earns a fraction. Read each row across.
Monthly use
Worth a closer look
Your home uses more than the panels make in most months: electric heat, cooling or an electric car.
Pause and check
Your summer use is low, so much of the output becomes cheap surplus.
Check next: twelve months of kWh from your bills, month by month.
System size
Worth a closer look
The quote sizes the system to your summer use, so little is left over.
Pause and check
The quote sizes it to your whole year. Xcel and MDU do not carry a July surplus into winter.
Check next: the quote’s month-by-month output next to your bills.
Utility
Worth a closer look
Xcel Energy, Montana-Dakota Utilities or Otter Tail Power, under the PSC rule for systems up to 100 kW.
Pause and check
A co-op or city utility whose terms you have not seen in writing.
Check next: the buyback price, any monthly charge and the size limit.
Monthly charges
Worth a closer look
A small metering charge, such as Xcel’s $3.25 a month.
Pause and check
A co-op fee like Verendrye’s $12 a month ($144 a year), which takes 3,600 kWh a year of surplus just to earn back.
Check next: every charge that comes with a solar account.
Price and time in home
Worth a closer look
A cash price near the Index’s $25,730 for 7.59 kW ($3.39 per watt), and you plan to stay for decades.
Pause and check
A dealer fee in the loan, or a move long before payback.
Check next: cash and financed prices side by side, with APR and fees.
Same panels, two utilities: the North Dakota payback
Simple payback is the years your savings take to cover what you paid: net cost divided by yearly savings. A kWh (kilowatt-hour) is the unit on your power bill. An export credit is what you get for each kWh your panels send to the grid. At Xcel Energy, that is the price it pays for your monthly surplus.
- Cash price
- $25,730
- Confirmed incentives
- $0
- Year-one production
- 11,081 kWh
- Offset within the month / sold as surplus
- 79.9% / 20.1%
- Xcel price you avoid (EIA, 12 months, less fixed charge)
- $0.11074/kWh
- Export credit
- $0.03646/kWh
- Metering charge
- $39/yr
- Used-at-home value
11,081 × 79.9% × $0.11074$980/yr - Export value
11,081 × 20.1% × $0.03646$81/yr - Yearly savings after the metering charge
$980 + $81 − $39$1,023/yr - Simple cash payback
$25,730 ÷ $1,023about 25.2 years
Inputs: the EcoGen Solar Cost Index typical North Dakota system (7.59 kW, $25,730 cash, September 2026; 1,460 kWh per kW a year). No rebate; North Dakota has none. Power that offsets your use within the month is valued at 11.074 cents: Xcel’s 13.832-cent EIA average for August 2025 to July 2026, less its $21.50 monthly customer charge. The 20.1% sold as monthly surplus is the share North Dakota solar homes reported to EIA, not measured at your meter, and earns Xcel’s 3.646 cents per kWh. The $39 is Xcel’s $3.25 monthly metering charge. No upkeep and no price rises are counted.
Now put the same system in Montana-Dakota Utilities territory. It also nets your power within the month and buys the month’s surplus, at 3.416 cents per kWh. Its EIA average price is 12.054 cents. We hold no figure for its fixed charge, so nothing is taken out and this case runs a little short.
| Utility | Offset within the month | Savings before costs | Yearly savings | Simple payback |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Xcel Energy | 79.9% | $1,062 | $1,023 | about 25.2 years |
| Montana-Dakota Utilities | 79.9% | $1,143 | $1,143 | about 22.5 years |
Same panels, price and sunshine. Both run long because surplus earns only 3.4 to 3.6 cents. A home that uses more of its output within each month keeps more of it at the full price, which is why a high-use home fits solar best here.
North Dakota prints no state figure: the utilities with a figure serve too few of its homes, and Otter Tail Power and the co-ops have none yet. The state’s monthly net billing rule covers Xcel, Montana-Dakota Utilities and Otter Tail Power systems up to 100 kW; co-op and city utilities set their own terms.
Test your own North Dakota home
The tool starts with the Xcel Energy case above. Enter your quote and bill, then press Calculate. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere.
Example result
about 25.2 years
simple cash payback
- Used-at-home value
- $980/yr
- Export value
- $81/yr
- Owner costs
- −$39/yr
- Yearly savings
- $1,023/yr
- Net cost
- $25,730
Starts with the Xcel Energy case. Lower the share used at home to see a home that sells more surplus. Flat first-year values; rates, panel wear and repairs will change the result.
Why a July surplus does not pay a January bill
Under N.D. Admin. Code 69-09-07-09, Xcel Energy, Montana-Dakota Utilities and Otter Tail Power must offer net energy billing to systems of 100 kW or less. Xcel and MDU count your solar against your use once per billing month, at the full price. Extra at month end is bought at avoided cost: what the utility would have paid for that power elsewhere.
Credits do not carry from month to month. Panels make the most in summer; many homes use the most in winter. A system sized to your whole year sells summer power cheaply and still leaves winter bills.
Offsets your use within the month: 8,852 kWh. Each one replaces power you would have bought, so it saves the variable rate ($0.11074 here).
Sold as monthly surplus: 2,229 kWh. These earn whatever your utility pays for exports ($0.03646 here). That can be far less.
Otter Tail Power works differently: it pays its avoided cost for each kWh you send to its lines, so only power used the moment it is made saves the full price. It also lists a solar credit payment of 0.3 cents per kWh.
Get quotes sized to your own bills
Ask each installer for month-by-month output next to your bills, and the buyback price they used for your utility.
Solar providers that serve your area may contact you, and they pay EcoGen for the introduction. How we make money.
What each utility pays for your extra power
The state rule covers the three investor-owned utilities. Co-ops, owned by their members, and city utilities write their own terms.
| Utility | Price for extra power | Charge for solar accounts |
|---|---|---|
| Xcel Energy | 3.646 cents per kWh (Rate Code D50), since March 1, 2026 | Metering charge of $3.25 a month |
| Montana-Dakota Utilities | 3.416 cents per kWh (Rate 95), since January 1, 2026 | Metering charge of $0.06 a day |
| Otter Tail Power | 4.571 cents per kWh flat, or 3.703 to 5.681 cents by season and time of day | Metering charge of $1.33 a month |
| Verendrye Electric Cooperative | 4 cents per kWh under 50 kW; leftover credit paid each May | Grid access charge of $12 a month |
| Mountrail-Williams Electric Cooperative | 5.67 cents per kWh, up to 50 kW | Administrative charge of $10 a month |
Charges are for single-phase service, the normal home connection. Prices change; ask for the current rate sheet.
The one tax break left, and what is gone
North Dakota leaves 100% of a home solar system’s value out of your property tax for five years after installation (N.D.C.C. 57-02-08(27)). File form 24708 with your local assessor every year. The current law has no end date. The break does not lower the installer’s price, so our example leaves it out.
Gone: the state income tax credit, which covers only systems installed before January 1, 2015, and the federal homeowner credit, for systems installed after December 31, 2025. Solar equipment pays the 5% state sales tax.
What to get in writing before you sign
A quote that cannot show these lines cannot show a real payback.
- Monthly output table. Expected kWh for each month, next to your use.
- Surplus and its price. How many kWh the quote expects to sell back each year, and at which price (3.646 cents per kWh at Xcel, 3.416 cents per kWh at MDU, 4.571 cents per kWh at Otter Tail).
- Utility name and charges. Your utility and every monthly charge for a solar account.
- Property tax form. Who files form 24708 with your assessor, and a reminder to refile it every year.
- Cash and financed prices. Both totals side by side, with any dealer fee shown.
Compare North Dakota solar quotes
Ask each installer to size the system to your bills and to show the surplus it expects to sell. 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 North Dakota solar guides
- North Dakota solar guide: utilities, incentives and installers in one place
- North Dakota solar companies: compare local installers before you request quotes
- North Dakota solar incentives: the property tax exemption and buyback prices
- What solar costs in North Dakota
- Free solar panels in North Dakota: what a zero-down offer means
- Are solar panels worth it? The national guide and payback calculator
All 51 state guides
North Dakota solar questions answered
Is solar worth the cost in North Dakota without the federal tax credit?
For some high-use homes, and slowly. The federal homeowner credit ended for systems installed after December 31, 2025, and the state has no rebate. In our per-utility figures a typical owned system takes about 25.2 years to pay for itself at Xcel Energy and about 22.5 years at Montana-Dakota Utilities, simple payback before incentives.
How much do solar panels cost in North Dakota?
The EcoGen Solar Cost Index puts the typical North Dakota home system at 7.59 kW for about $25,730 in cash, or $3.39 per watt, before any incentives. That is the price in our example. Your quote depends on your roof, equipment and installer.
How long does solar take to pay for itself in North Dakota?
Longer than a quick look suggests. Valuing every kWh at the full price makes it look much shorter. With surplus power earning only Xcel’s 3.646 cents per kWh and Xcel’s $39 a year metering charge counted, our figure is about 25.2 years at Xcel Energy, and about 22.5 years at Montana-Dakota Utilities. Both use the share of output sold back as reported to EIA, about 20%; a home that sells more takes longer.
Does North Dakota have net metering?
It has net energy billing. Under N.D. Admin. Code 69-09-07-09, Xcel Energy, Montana-Dakota Utilities and Otter Tail Power must offer it for systems of 100 kW or less. Xcel and MDU net your solar each month and buy the surplus at 3.646 cents per kWh (Xcel) or 3.416 cents per kWh (MDU). Co-ops set their own terms.
Can I lease solar panels in North Dakota?
We could not confirm from a state or utility source which leases or power purchase agreements are sold to North Dakota homes, so this page does not price one. If you are offered one, ask who owns the panels, who receives the buyback payments and what happens if you sell the house.
What solar incentives does North Dakota offer?
One state tax break: 100% of a solar system’s value is left out of your property tax for five years after installation. File form 24708 with your local assessor every year. The state income tax credit covers only systems installed before January 1, 2015. We found no state or utility rebate.
Should I wait to go solar in North Dakota?
Waiting is a fair choice if your use is modest. Buyback prices are reviewed every year: Xcel’s went from 3.270 cents to 3.646 cents per kWh on March 1, 2026. A home with high use all year has less reason to wait, since that power saves the full price now.
Sources, method and corrections
The figures come from our per-utility payback file of October 19, 2026: the EcoGen Solar Cost Index typical North Dakota system (September 2026), each utility’s own EIA average price with its fixed charge taken out, its buyback price, any solar account charge, and the share of output sold back as reported to EIA (20.1%), not measured at the meter. No upkeep and no price rises are counted. Simple payback before incentives uses flat first-year values. The calculator runs in your browser and sends nothing.
Spotted an error? Tell us through our corrections and feedback process.
- North Dakota Administrative Code chapter 69-09-07: net energy billing (checked September 30, 2026)
- North Dakota PSC, Case PU-26-18: Xcel Energy Rate Code D50 rate sheets (3.646 cents a kWh from March 1, 2026)
- North Dakota PSC, Case PU-25-276: Montana-Dakota Utilities Rate 95 (checked September 30, 2026)
- North Dakota PSC, Case PU-26-51: Otter Tail Power small power producer riders (bills from June 1, 2026)
- Verendrye Electric Cooperative: Schedule P-G parallel generation rate (a co-op example)
- Mountrail-Williams Electric Cooperative: 2026 rate schedules, DG-1 (checked October 1, 2026)
- North Dakota Tax Commissioner: solar device property tax exemption (form 24708, filed every year)
- North Dakota Century Code chapter 57-02: property tax exemption
- North Dakota Century Code 57-38-01.8: closed income tax credit
- U.S. EIA: average residential electricity price by state (12-month average, August 2025 to July 2026, as used in the Cost Index; each utility’s own 12-month price from the same EIA series)
- IRS: Residential Clean Energy Credit (not available for property installed after December 31, 2025)
- EcoGen Solar Cost Index, September 2026: what solar costs in North Dakota
