Pennsylvania still pays solar homes the full price for power they send to the grid, so a typical owned system pays for itself in about 10.9 years statewide in our per-utility figures, and about 11.5 years at PECO, simple payback before incentives. That rule only covers homes that buy their power from the utility. If you switched to a supplier whose contract credits nothing for exports, the same system takes about 16 in our PECO supplier case. Check your bill before you sign.
Pennsylvania, simple payback before incentivesAbout 10.9 years
PECO: full credit, or a supplier (our case)About 11.5 to 16 years
Typical owned 8.26 kW system at $23,706 cash (EcoGen Solar Cost Index, September 2026), power bought from PECO at PECO’s own EIA price less fixed charges, no rebate, upkeep or price rises counted. The supplier case is ours. See the math.
- Power supplier: your utility, or a supplier whose contract states its solar credit.
- System size: close to a year of your use, so few credits are left at the end of May.
- Time in home: about 11 years to pay back with the full credit.
2026 rules: new home systems get no 30% federal homeowner credit (IRS). Pennsylvania’s net metering rule is unchanged: the large utilities credit exported power at the full retail rate for homes that buy power from them.
How we checked this guide
Credit rules come from the Pennsylvania Code, prices to compare from PECO and FirstEnergy, the SREC price from PennAEPS, and the electricity price from the EIA. The example is the EcoGen Solar Cost Index typical Pennsylvania home. 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.
Where Pennsylvania solar earns its keep, and where it slips
Pennsylvania has no state rebate or tax credit for home solar. It has a strong rule instead: power your panels send to the grid earns a credit worth the full price of a kWh (a kilowatt-hour, the unit on your bill). That credit carries the whole case, so anything that weakens it weakens the payback.
Who sells your power
Worth a closer look
Your utility sells you power, or your supplier contract states a full solar credit.
Pause and check
You switched supplier and its contract says nothing about solar.
Check next: the supplier name on your bill and the solar clause in its contract.
System size
Worth a closer look
The system makes about what your home uses in a year.
Pause and check
The quote sizes well past your use, so leftovers are paid at the price to compare (11.759 cents per kWh at PECO).
Check next: your last 12 months of kWh next to the quote’s year-one output.
Utility
Worth a closer look
PECO, PPL, FirstEnergy or Duquesne Light, so state rules apply up to 50 kW.
Pause and check
A co-op or borough utility, which sets its own export credit.
Check next: the co-op or borough solar policy in writing.
Roof and time in home
Worth a closer look
An unshaded roof with decades of life left, and you plan to stay past about 11.5 years.
Pause and check
The roof needs replacing soon, heavy shade, or a likely move.
Check next: the roof’s age, a shade report and your likely moving date.
Price and financing
Worth a closer look
A cash price near the Index’s $23,706 for 8.26 kW ($2.87 per watt), paid in cash or with a low-fee loan.
Pause and check
A $0-down loan with a dealer fee hidden in the financed total.
Check next: the cash price next to the financed price, plus APR, fees and term.
One roof, two power sellers: the Pennsylvania payback math
Simple payback is the years your savings take to cover what you paid: net cost divided by yearly savings. Here is the typical Pennsylvania system, owned, buying power from PECO, from our per-utility figures.
- Cash price
- $23,706
- Confirmed incentives
- $0 (before incentives)
- Year-one production
- 11,556 kWh
- Used at home / exported
- 40% / 60%
- PECO price you avoid (EIA, 12 months, less fixed charges)
- $0.1782/kWh
- Export credit
- $0.1782/kWh
- Owner-cost allowance
- None counted
- Used-at-home value
11,556 × 40% × $0.1782$824/yr - Export value
11,556 × 60% × $0.1782$1,236/yr - Yearly savings
$824 + $1,236$2,059/yr - Simple cash payback
$23,706 ÷ $2,059about 11.5 years
Inputs: the EcoGen Solar Cost Index typical Pennsylvania system (8.26 kW, $23,706 cash, September 2026; 1,399 kWh per kW a year). The price is PECO’s 19.298¢ EIA average for August 2025 to July 2026, less its $11.33 in fixed monthly charges. With the full credit the 40/60 split does not change the result. No PECO rebate, upkeep, price rises or SREC income are counted.
Now change only who sells you power. If you buy electricity from a competitive supplier, your utility credits only the distribution part of each exported kWh. The supplier’s contract decides what you get for the power itself. Our second case assumes it pays nothing. It is our own case, not in the per-utility file: the 20.70¢ EIA state average for power used at home, $248 a year in owner costs and the $500 PECO rebate.
| Scenario | Export credit | Export value | Yearly savings | Simple payback |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Power from your utility | $0.1782/kWh | $1,236 | $2,059 | about 11.5 years |
| Supplier with no solar clause | $0.10236/kWh | $710 | $1,419 | about 16.4 years |
Other utilities in our per-utility figures, before incentives: PPL 11.3 years, Duquesne Light 8.9, FirstEnergy Pennsylvania 10.7 to 10.8 across Met-Ed, Penelec, Penn Power and West Penn, UGI 10.9, Pike County 9.3, Wellsboro 10.7 and Citizens’ 12.8. Weighted by customers, Pennsylvania comes to about 10.9 years. In our supplier case, the gap is the supply part of the credit on the about 6,934 kWh sent out each year: about $725 a year. The delivery credit is PECO’s distribution charge of 10.236 cents per kWh (Rate R, effective July 1, 2026); at PPL it is 6.175 cents (October 1, 2026). Your real distribution rate is on your bill.
Try your own Pennsylvania numbers
The tool starts with the PECO full-credit case, before incentives. Enter your own quote and press Calculate. On a supplier, lower the export credit. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere.
Example result
about 11.5 years
simple cash payback
- Used-at-home value
- $824/yr
- Export value
- $1,236/yr
- Owner costs
- −$0/yr
- Yearly savings
- $2,059/yr
- Net cost
- $23,706
Starts with the PECO full-credit case above, before incentives. Set the export credit to the delivery credit in the table above to see the supplier case. Flat first-year values; rates, panel wear and repairs will change the result.
Why your daytime habits barely matter here
In many states, power used at home is worth far more than power sent out. Not here. With the full credit, an exported kWh and one used on the spot are worth the same, so our 40/60 split (a planning assumption, not a measured Pennsylvania average) does not change the full-credit savings.
Used at home: 4,622 kWh. Each one replaces power you would have bought, so it saves the full variable rate ($0.1782 here).
Sent to the grid: 6,934 kWh. These earn whatever your utility pays for exports ($0.1782 here). Here that matches the price you pay, but check your utility’s rule.
Extra kWh roll forward at full value through the credit year, June 1 through May 31. On May 31, what is left is paid at the price to compare, which covers generation and transmission. Through November 30, 2026 that is 11.759 cents per kWh at PECO and 12.075 cents per kWh at West Penn Power, so 100 leftover kWh pay $11.76 at PECO.
So size matters more than habits: a system matched to your yearly use leaves little to pay out. Supplier customers lose leftover delivery credits at year end. Pennsylvania homes paid an average of 20.70¢ per kWh from August 2025 to July 2026 (EIA).
Get quotes built on your real credit
Ask each installer who they assumed sells you power, and what each exported kWh earns.
Solar providers that serve your area may contact you, and they pay EcoGen for the introduction. How we make money.
SRECs, the PECO rebate and battery pay: real, but small
None of these changes the answer much. Our per-utility figures count none of them; only the supplier case counts the PECO rebate.
- Solar credits (SRECs). One credit per 1,000 kWh. A typical system makes about 11.6 a year, worth about $327 at the last posted average of $28.26 (year ended May 31, 2026), before fees. Prices ranged from $4.00 to $81.00, so we left them out.
- PECO rebate. $500 per home, form due within 90 days of in-service status. PPL lists no rebate for solar panels; FirstEnergy has nothing to apply for yet.
- Battery pay. PPL pays $150 per kW a season, up to $400; PECO’s example pays $480 a year. With full credits, a battery saves little on the bill, so buy it for backup.
Cash, loan, lease or PPA: who keeps the credits?
Own the panels, with cash or a loan, and the credits and SRECs are yours. In a lease or power purchase agreement (PPA), a company owns the system and usually keeps the SRECs.
| Option | Who owns the panels | Upfront | Ongoing | Check before signing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash | You | Full price | None to a lender. | You keep the bill credits and SRECs. |
| Loan | You | Often $0 | Loan payment, plus your remaining utility bill. | Cash vs financed price; a dealer fee adds years. |
| Lease | Solar company | Often $0 | Monthly lease payment, plus your remaining utility bill. | The company usually keeps the SRECs. At PECO a leased system may make no more than 110% of your yearly use. |
| PPA | Solar company | Often $0 | A price per kWh for the power the panels make. | The PPA price and its yearly increase. |
See our solar financing guide for loan terms. Pennsylvania Solar for All is not operational at this time, so ignore installers who claim to be its partners.
What to get in writing from a Pennsylvania installer
Hold two or three quotes to this list. Also ask for a workmanship warranty: Solarize Greater Philadelphia requires at least 10 years from its installers.
- Who sells your power. Utility or supplier, and the export credit the quote assumed.
- Size against your use. Year-one kWh next to a year of bills.
- Rebate deadline. At PECO, the rebate form is due within 90 days of in-service status.
- Who owns the SRECs. Who registers and sells them, and any broker fee.
- Tax in the price. The full contract price: the installer pays the 6% sales tax on what it installs, so it should not be added on top.
- Cash and financed prices. Both totals, any dealer fee, and no federal credit subtracted.
Compare Pennsylvania solar quotes
Ask for a payback built on the credit you will really get. 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 on Pennsylvania solar
- Pennsylvania solar guide: utilities, incentives and installers in one place
- Pennsylvania solar companies: compare local installers before you request quotes
- Pennsylvania solar incentives: bill credits, SRECs and utility extras
- What solar costs in Pennsylvania
- Free solar panels in Pennsylvania: what $0 down really means
- Are solar panels worth it? The national guide and payback calculator
All 51 state guides
Pennsylvania solar payback questions
Are solar panels worth it in Pennsylvania without the 30% federal tax credit?
They can be. The homeowner credit ended for systems installed after December 31, 2025, and Pennsylvania has no credit for home solar. The full bill credit carries the math. In our per-utility figures a typical owned PECO system pays back in about 11.5 years with that credit, before incentives, and about 16 in our case if a supplier credits only delivery.
What is the solar payback period in Pennsylvania in 2026?
For a typical owned 8.26 kW system at $23,706, about 10.9 years statewide in our per-utility figures when you buy power from your utility, simple payback before incentives: 8.9 years at Duquesne Light, 10.7 to 10.8 at FirstEnergy Pennsylvania, 11.3 at PPL and 11.5 at PECO. A supplier contract with no solar credit, an oversized system or a high price pushes it later.
Does Pennsylvania have full-retail net metering?
Yes, for homes that buy power from PECO, PPL, FirstEnergy or Duquesne Light. State rules credit each exported kWh at the full retail rate, including delivery, for home systems up to 50 kW. Extra credits roll forward month to month through the year that runs June 1 through May 31. The rule has no end date.
Does my electricity supplier change my solar credits?
Yes. If a competitive supplier sells you power, your utility credits only the distribution part of each exported kWh, and those credits are zeroed out at year end. Any credit for the power itself must be written in your supplier contract. Ask the supplier in writing before you sign for solar.
Are SRECs worth tracking for Pennsylvania homeowners?
They add a little, but should not decide the purchase. A typical 8.26 kW system earns about about 11.6 credits a year, or about $327 at the last posted average of $28.26, before broker fees. Sales ranged from $4.00 to $81.00, and the state says the market is oversupplied.
Is a home battery worth it in Pennsylvania?
Mostly for backup. With the full credit, a kWh you export is worth what a stored kWh would save, so a battery adds little to bill savings. PECO and PPL do pay for battery use during grid events: PPL pays $150 per kW a season, up to $400, and PECO’s example pays $480 a year.
Sources, method and corrections
The PECO figure comes from our per-utility payback file of October 19, 2026: the EcoGen Solar Cost Index typical Pennsylvania system (September 2026) at PECO’s EIA 12-month price less its fixed monthly charges, with no rebate, upkeep or price rises. The supplier case is ours: the EIA state average for power used at home, the PECO rebate, and our assumptions of 40% of the solar power used at home as it is made and 60% sent to the grid, and $248 a year in owner costs ($30 per kW, including a reserve for a new inverter). It uses PECO’s 10.236 cents per kWh distribution charge (Rate R, effective July 1, 2026) as the export credit. SREC income is not counted. Simple payback 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.
- Pennsylvania Code, 52 Pa. Code 75.13: net metering rules (checked October 5, 2026)
- Pennsylvania Code, 52 Pa. Code 75.12: definitions
- PECO: Price to Compare
- FirstEnergy Pennsylvania: price to compare tariff supplement
- PECO Home Rebates: solar rebate
- PennAEPS: 2024/2025 alternative energy credit pricing
- PPL Electric Utilities: Optimized Battery
- PECO Flex & Save battery FAQ
- Pennsylvania Department of Revenue: sales and use tax
- U.S. EIA: average residential electricity price by state (12-month average, August 2025 to July 2026, as used in the Cost Index)
- IRS: Residential Clean Energy Credit (not available for property installed after December 31, 2025)
- EcoGen Solar Cost Index, September 2026: what solar costs in Pennsylvania
