Washington has some of the strongest solar rules left and some of the weakest sun. With full net metering, a typical owned system pays back in about 14.1 years at Puget Sound Energy, simple payback before incentives, and 17.4 to 30.7 years at the other large utilities. If your exports earn a lower credit, like the one PSE pays outside net metering, it takes much longer. The rule your utility applies when you file decides the gap.
Simple payback before incentives, PSEAbout 14.1 years
Other large utilities, net metering17.4 to 30.7 years
Typical owned 8.64 kW Washington system at $24,710 cash (EcoGen Solar Cost Index, September 2026), no incentives, full net metering, each utility’s EIA average price with its fixed charge taken out. No upkeep or price rises counted. See the math.
- Utility rule: ask in writing whether full net metering is open to an application filed today.
- Roof: unshaded and facing south. Weak sun leaves little room for shade.
- Size: no bigger than a year of your use. Credits left on March 31 are lost.
2026 rules: new home systems get no 30% federal homeowner credit (IRS), and Washington has no state rebate or tax credit. Most utilities still credit exports 1 for 1 under state law, but the duty ends by June 30, 2029, and sooner at a utility past its cap.
How we checked this guide
Rules come from Washington law, the WSU Energy Program and utility tariffs; prices 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.
Good rules can’t add sunshine: five Washington checks
At most Washington utilities, every kWh you send to the grid comes back later as a kWh you do not have to buy. But each kW of panels makes only about 1,095 kWh a year, one of the lowest yields anywhere. Good rules cannot add sunshine. Read each row across.
Your utility’s credit rule
Worth a closer look
Your utility confirms in writing that a new application gets full net metering.
Pause and check
Your utility is past its cap or has asked to move new homes to a lower credit.
Check next: the rule named on your application, and its date.
Sun on the roof
Worth a closer look
An unshaded roof facing south, west or east, with years of life left.
Pause and check
Trees or buildings shade it part of the day. Weak sun leaves no room for that.
Check next: a shade report and month-by-month output on the quote.
System size
Worth a closer look
The quote’s year-one output is close to what your home uses in a year.
Pause and check
It makes more than you use; leftover credits are lost each March 31.
Check next: your last 12 months of kWh next to the quote’s year-one output.
Price
Worth a closer look
A cash price near the Index’s $24,710 for 8.64 kW ($2.86 per watt), with no sales tax added.
Pause and check
A higher price, or a loan with a dealer fee built into it.
Check next: cash and financed prices side by side, with APR and fees.
Time in the home
Worth a closer look
You plan to stay past payback, which runs long here.
Pause and check
A likely move well before payback, or a roof due for replacement first.
Check next: how long you really expect to stay.
Strong rules, weak sun: the Washington math
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. Simple payback is the years your savings take to cover what you paid: net cost divided by yearly savings. Here is the typical Washington system with full net metering at PSE, the largest utility.
- Cash price
- $24,710
- Confirmed incentives
- $0
- Year-one production
- 9,469 kWh
- PSE price, fixed charge taken out
- $0.1856/kWh
- Export credit
- Same, kWh for kWh
- Upkeep and price rises
- Not counted
- Value of the year’s output
9,469 × $0.18561$1,758/yr - Yearly savings
$1,758 − $0$1,758/yr - Simple payback before incentives
$24,710 ÷ $1,758about 14.1 years
Inputs: the EcoGen Solar Cost Index typical Washington system (8.64 kW, $24,710 cash, $2.86 per watt, September 2026) at 1,096 kWh per kW a year, so 9,469 kWh in year one. No rebate is counted; Washington has none. PSE homes paid 19.45¢ per kWh on average from August 2025 to July 2026 (EIA); taking out the $7.49 monthly basic charge leaves 18.56¢. With full net metering an exported kWh is worth the full price if you use the credit before March 31, so the home/grid split does not change this case. No upkeep and no price rises are counted.
The same panels pay back at a very different pace in each territory, because each utility’s price differs. Same math, same system, full net metering.
| Utility | Price per kWh | Fixed charge taken out | Yearly savings | Simple payback |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Puget Sound Energy | $0.1856/kWh | $7.49/mo | $1,758 | about 14.1 years |
| Seattle City Light | $0.1500/kWh | none | $1,420 | about 17.4 years |
| Pacific Power | $0.1429/kWh | $12.29/mo | $1,353 | about 18.3 years |
| Avista | $0.1348/kWh | $10.00/mo | $1,277 | about 19.4 years |
| Clark Public Utilities | $0.1065/kWh | none | $1,008 | about 24.5 years |
| Snohomish County PUD | $0.0969/kWh | $24.33/mo | $917 | about 26.9 years |
| Tacoma Power | $0.0849/kWh | $31.30/mo | $804 | about 30.7 years |
Now say full net metering is closed when you apply. PSE already has a lower option, its Solar Energy Credit, which pays 6.713 cents for each exported kWh, in effect since September 13, 2024. Power used at home still saves the full price, but each exported kWh earns less than half of it, so payback runs much longer; our per-utility figures do not model it. What shortens any answer: a lower cash price and rising power prices (the example holds them flat). Shade, oversizing and a low energy charge lengthen it.
Run your own Washington numbers
The tool starts with full net metering. Enter your quote and the energy charge on your bill, then press Calculate. Lower the export credit to test the second case. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere.
Example result
about 14.1 years
simple payback before incentives
- Used-at-home value
- $703/yr
- Export value
- $1,055/yr
- Owner costs
- −$0/yr
- Yearly savings
- $1,758/yr
- Net cost
- $24,710
Starts with PSE on full net metering, no upkeep. To test a lower credit, change the export credit. Snohomish County PUD homes can set the rate to its energy charge. Flat first-year values; rates, panel wear and repairs will change the result.
Two clocks on full credit, and where your utility stands
Under chapter 80.60 of the Revised Code of Washington (RCW), a utility must take new net metering customers until June 30, 2029, or until its net metering total reaches 4% of its 1996 peak demand (the most power its customers drew at one moment), whichever comes first.
Past the cap, a utility may set its own rate for new solar homes. Homes already connected keep their credits while their interconnection agreement, the contract to connect to the grid, stays valid.
| Utility | Share of cap used (WSU) | Rule for a new solar home |
|---|---|---|
| Puget Sound Energy | 132.25% | Schedule 150 net metering, open until PSE has a replacement. |
| Pacific Power | 115.42% | Net metering; asked to close it after February 1, 2027. |
| Seattle City Light | 92.57% | Net metering; next phase being planned. |
| Avista | 77.84% | State rule; no change reported to WSU. |
| Snohomish County PUD | 77.82% | Net metering, credited in dollars. |
| Clark County PUD | 63.61% | State rule; no change reported to WSU. |
| Tacoma Power | 50.86% | State rule; no change reported to WSU. |
WSU Energy Program table for January 31, 2026, the latest posted; 12 utilities were past the cap.
PSE is past the cap and offers full credit by its own choice, so a PSE customer who has already decided gains nothing by waiting. Pacific Power’s request, Docket UE-250695, was pending on October 1, 2026; under it, a complete application by February 1, 2027 keeps net metering for 25 years. Seattle City Light aims to give at least six months of notice before it changes its program.
None of this is a reason to rush. It is a reason to get one dated answer from your utility before you sign.
Size it to your year, not your roof
Credits roll forward month to month, so long summer days build a bank that dark winter months draw down. But on March 31 any credits left from the past year go to the utility, unpaid. A system that makes more than your home uses in a year hands the extra away every spring. A big roof is not a reason to fill it.
Used at home: 3,785 kWh. Each one replaces power you would have bought, so it saves the full variable rate ($0.1412 here).
Sent to the grid: 5,677 kWh. These earn whatever your utility pays for exports ($0.1412 here). Here that matches the price you pay, but check your utility’s rule.
Washington homes paid an average of 14.12¢ per kWh from August 2025 to July 2026 (EIA), fixed charges included. Credits offset the energy charge, which can be lower: 13.38 cents per kWh inside Seattle, 10.613 cents per kWh at Snohomish County PUD.
Check which rule your Washington utility applies today
PSE, Seattle City Light, Pacific Power and the PUDs each run their own clock. Ask every installer which credit rule their application would fall under.
Solar providers that serve your area may contact you, and they pay EcoGen for the introduction. How we make money.
The one discount Washington gives: no sales tax
Washington has no panel rebate and no state tax credit, because it does not currently have an individual income tax. It does exempt the equipment from 100% of state and local sales tax under RCW 82.08.962, for systems of 1 kW to 100 kW, through December 31, 2029. The state part alone is 6.5%. Labor is exempt only if the installer meets the state’s conditions.
Not on the table: the state production payment has been full since 2019, and Solar for All was paused after August 7, 2025.
Before you sign a Washington solar contract
A payback figure on a quote that skips these lines cannot be checked.
- Credit rule, in writing. Net metering or a lower credit, the schedule named (at PSE, Schedule 150 or not) and the date your utility confirmed it.
- Size against your use. Year-one kWh next to a year of bills, so little is left at March 31.
- No sales tax. A price with the RCW 82.08.962 exemption applied, and whether the labor qualifies too.
- Shade and output. A shade report and the kWh per kW the quote assumed.
- Utility energy charge. The per-kWh rate the quote used, from your own bill.
- Cash and financed prices. Both totals side by side, with any dealer fee shown.
Compare Washington solar quotes
Ask each installer which credit rule your utility would apply, and for a size based on your bills. 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. This is not an application to your utility’s net metering program.
More Washington solar guides
- Washington solar guide: utilities, incentives and installers in one place
- Washington solar companies: compare local installers before you request quotes
- Washington solar incentives: full bill credits, no sales tax, and the 2029 dates
- What solar costs in Washington
- Free solar panels in Washington: what is real
- Are solar panels worth it? The national guide and payback calculator
All 51 state guides
Washington solar questions
Are solar panels worth it in Washington?
For an owner with an unshaded roof who plans to stay a long time, they can be. In our example a typical system pays back in about 14.1 years at PSE with full net metering, before incentives, and 17.4 to 30.7 years at the other large utilities. With a lower export credit it takes much longer. The rules are good; the sun is weak.
How does Washington net metering work?
Under chapter 80.60 of the Revised Code of Washington (RCW), each kWh your panels send to the grid takes a kWh off a later bill. It covers systems up to 100 kW. Credits roll forward month to month, but on March 31 any left from the past year go to the utility unpaid. Snohomish County PUD keeps the credit in dollars.
Is Washington net metering ending?
Utilities must offer it to new customers until June 30, 2029, or until their solar total reaches 4% of their 1996 peak demand, whichever comes first. PSE and Pacific Power are past that cap. PSE keeps Schedule 150 open until a replacement is ready. Pacific Power has asked to close it after February 1, 2027.
How big should a Washington solar system be?
No bigger than what your home uses in a year. Washington clears leftover credits every March 31, so extra output is given away. The typical system is 8.64 kW, making about 9,462 kWh a year. Compare a year of your bills with the quote’s year-one output.
Why does solar cost so much in Washington if the price per watt is fair?
Because each kW makes less power here, so homes install more of them. At $2.86 per watt, the typical 8.64 kW system costs $24,710 before incentives. Washington takes no sales tax on qualifying equipment through December 31, 2029, so check that your quote leaves it off.
Sources, method and corrections
The example uses the EcoGen Solar Cost Index typical Washington system (September 2026) and the EIA average price. With full net metering, an exported kWh is valued at the full price. Paybacks come from our per-utility figures of October 19, 2026: 1,096 kWh per kW a year and each utility’s EIA 12-month price (August 2025 to July 2026) less its fixed monthly charge. Simple payback before incentives uses flat first-year values, with no upkeep and no price rises. PSE’s Schedule 667 Solar Energy Credit is described but not modeled. The calculator runs in your browser and sends nothing.
Updated October 19, 2026: paybacks now come from our per-utility figures, with no upkeep counted.
Spotted an error? Tell us through our corrections and feedback process.
- Chapter 80.60 RCW: net metering, the cap and the March 31 reset (checked September 30, 2026)
- WSU Energy Program: net metering progress by utility (data to January 31, 2026)
- Puget Sound Energy: solar FAQ and Schedule 150 (checked September 29, 2026)
- Puget Sound Energy: Schedule 667 Solar Energy Credit (the second case)
- Washington UTC: Docket UE-250695, Pacific Power net billing
- Pacific Power: customer generation and Schedule 135
- Seattle City Light: solar and net metering
- Seattle City Light: residential rates
- Snohomish County PUD: 2026 electric rates, Schedules 7, 200 and 201
- RCW 82.08.962: solar sales tax exemption
- Washington Department of Revenue: tax incentive programs
- Washington Department of Revenue: sales tax rate
- Washington Department of Revenue: income tax
- WSU Energy Program: Renewable Energy System Incentive Program
- Washington Department of Commerce: Solar for All
- U.S. EIA: average residential electricity price by state (August 2025 to July 2026)
- IRS: Residential Clean Energy Credit
- EcoGen Solar Cost Index, September 2026: what solar costs in Washington
