Utah solar has outlived its incentives and kept going. The state tax credit is gone for new installations, the federal credit ended in December 2025, and Rocky Mountain Power pays 4.855¢ for summer exports against roughly 13¢ retail power. What survives is the real case: cheap installs, big sun, and systems sized to what your house actually uses. EcoGen America runs that math properly, and flags every quote still selling credits that no longer exist.
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Utah solar has outlived its incentives and kept going. The state tax credit is gone for new installations, the federal credit ended in December 2025, and Rocky Mountain Power pays 4.855 cents for summer exports against roughly 13-cent retail power.
What survives is the real case: some of the cheapest installs in the country at $2.40 to $3.00 per watt, big sun, and systems sized to what your house actually uses.
The self-use math carries everything now, which makes honest sizing the whole game.
EcoGen America runs that math properly, and flags every quote still selling credits that no longer exist.
Both credits are gone for new Utah installs. We flag any proposal that still counts them, because some still do.
Built-in checks for export income at RMP's real rate, self-use sizing, and paybacks built on cheap-install economics rather than expired subsidies.
We track Rocky Mountain Power export rates and any legislative movement on crediting or new state incentives.
Your data is only shared with the licensed Utah installers you choose.
EcoGen is 100% free for homeowners. We earn a small referral fee from installers only when you choose to proceed with a project through our platform.
Utah’s incentive landscape changed hard, and a surprising number of quotes have not caught up. What is still being promised versus what a 2026 buyer actually gets:
The Line You May Hear | The 2026 Reality | What It Means for You |
|---|---|---|
“Utah gives you a state tax credit” | The residential RESTC phased to $0 for systems installed 2024 and later | Any state-credit line on a new quote is fiction; strike it and re-run the payback |
“Plus the 30% federal credit” | The federal residential credit ended December 2025 | Same treatment; a 2026 purchase gets no federal credit |
“The utility pays you for extra power” | True, at 4.855¢/kWh in summer under net billing, roughly a third of retail; winter pays 4.033¢ | Exports are a byproduct, not the business case; size to your own usage |
None of this kills Utah solar. It kills lazy Utah solar. Cheap installs against 13¢ power still pay, provided the system is sized for the house rather than the incentive that no longer exists.
Pull 12 months of Rocky Mountain Power bills and size to daytime usage. In a net-billing state, the right-sized array beats the biggest one.
Run what you can while the sun is up, or price a battery to move solar into the evening. Self-consumed power is worth about double exports.
Skip any pitch built on tax credits. Both the state and federal residential credits are gone; the math works without them.
Free 15-minute call. Real rates, real usage, zero phantom credits.
Utah Contract Checks
Post-incentive states reward line-by-line readers. These four lines first.
State credit: ended for 2024+ installs. Federal credit: ended December 2025. A quote listing either is stale on arrival.
Summer exports earn 4.855¢/kWh, winter 4.033¢, both cut about 14% on March 1, 2026. A model using one flat generous rate flatters itself.
On cheap power with exports worth about a third of retail, the oversized array is the classic Utah mistake.
Utah's low per-watt pricing can hide dealer fees inside financed totals. The cash anchor exposes them.
Four checks, any Utah quote. The good outfits pass without blinking.
Rocky Mountain Power’s net-billing schedule is the number most Utah quotes gloss. The short version:
Energy Flow | What It Is Worth | The Buyer’s Move |
|---|---|---|
Power you use as you make it | Full retail avoided, ~13¢/kWh | Maximize this: daytime loads, right-sized array |
Summer exports (Jun-Sept) | 4.855¢/kWh credit | Fine as a byproduct; poor as a plan |
Winter exports (Oct-May) | 4.033¢/kWh credit | Do not let a flat-rate model hide this |
The arithmetic favors self-consumption roughly two to one. That is not a flaw in Utah solar; it is the design brief. Systems built to it pay back steadily on some of the lowest install prices in the country.
Vetted for Utah licensing, net-billing fluency, install record and complaint history.
The post-incentive math still works, and it is equally clear about the misses:
Solid daytime load and clear sun? Utah remains one of the cheapest places in America to put panels on a roof, and the math still says yes.
Priced against Utah's market band, with every dead credit stripped out.
15 minutes, independent. Usage, seasons, sizing, verdict.
Talk to a Utah AdvisorNo obligation. 100% free service.
Not for new residential systems. The state’s renewable energy tax credit phased down to $0 for installations from 2024 onward, and the federal residential credit ended in December 2025.
Any 2026 quote listing either credit is out of date; ask for the payback with those lines removed.
Under net billing, exported energy earns 4.855¢/kWh during June through September and 4.033¢ from October through May, rates that were cut about 14% on March 1, 2026.
Since retail power costs roughly 13¢, self-consumed solar is worth close to three times what exports earn: size your system to your usage.
Often yes, on structure alone: Utah combines some of the nation’s lowest install pricing with abundant sun. A right-sized system offsetting 13¢ retail power pays back steadily, just more slowly than the subsidy era.
The buyers it no longer works for are those with small bills or little daytime usage and no battery.
Existing customers keep the program terms they enrolled under; the current net-billing schedule applies to new applicants.
If you are buying a home with panels, confirm which program the system is grandfathered into: it changes the economics you inherit.
The rates, program terms and figures on this page come from the records below. Sources accessed between June 10, 2026 and August 21, 2026.
Dean Mahmoud is the CEO of EcoGen America. He has connected tens of thousands of homeowners with residential solar installers across all 50 states since 2021, and works directly with installation companies on solar pricing, financing, and what homeowners actually pay for rooftop solar.
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