What does this solar payback ranking show?

It orders states by Standard rooftop solar payback. It is a comparison of this one published measure, not an overall ranking of where to live.

Where do these figures come from?

NREL PVWatts; NREL Annual Technology Baseline; EIA Form 861 supplies this measure. States without a comparable published value are shown as not ranked rather than estimated.

How should I use this ranking?

Use it to narrow a search, then open a state or county profile for the underlying figures, source dates and caveats. A statewide number may not describe every neighbourhood.

Lowest solar payback by state

Standard rooftop solar payback.

Simple payback for a standard 1 kW rooftop system: NREL PVWatts annual output multiplied by the local residential electricity rate, against NREL’s $2.68/W residential benchmark (2023 dollars). It assumes every generated kWh offsets retail electricity, with no incentives, financing, taxes, maintenance, degradation, net-metering limits, battery, roof work, shading or local installation-price differences. Treat this as a consistent resource-and-rate comparison, not a quote or investment return.

How to read this ranking

Hawaii has the lowest published solar payback in this comparison, at 4.0. The next states shown are California (4.8) and Massachusetts (6.5).

The table orders 51 states by standard rooftop solar payback. It describes one published measure, not an overall judgment about where to live.

Use the result as a starting point, then compare the underlying source, dates, and local county figures before making a decision. Simple payback for a standard 1 kW rooftop system: NREL PVWatts annual output multiplied by the local residential electricity rate, against NREL’s $2.68/W residential benchmark (2023 dollars). It assumes every generated kWh offsets retail electricity, with no incentives, financing, taxes, maintenance, degradation, net-metering limits, battery, roof work, shading or local installation-price differences. Treat this as a consistent resource-and-rate comparison, not a quote or investment return.

1Hawaii4.0
2California4.8
3Massachusetts6.5
4Rhode Island6.6
5Maine6.8
6Connecticut7.1
7New York7.1
8New Hampshire7.6
9District of Columbia7.7
10New Jersey8.3
11Maryland8.5
12Vermont8.8
13New Mexico9.6
14Arizona9.7
15Michigan9.7
16Colorado9.8
17Pennsylvania10.0
18Illinois10.2
19Alaska10.4
20Wisconsin10.4
21Delaware10.5
22Texas11.0
23Florida11.2
24Nevada11.2
25Ohio11.2
26Alabama11.5
27Indiana11.5
28Kansas11.6
29South Carolina11.6
30Virginia11.6
31Minnesota11.9
32Wyoming12.0
33Georgia12.5
34North Carolina12.5
35Mississippi12.6
36South Dakota12.6
37Oklahoma12.8
38Utah12.9
39Iowa13.4
40Missouri13.5
41West Virginia13.5
42Nebraska13.7
43Arkansas14.0
44Louisiana14.1
45Oregon14.1
46Kentucky14.2
47Tennessee14.2
48Montana14.5
49Idaho14.6
50North Dakota15.2
51Washington16.7

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Frequently asked questions

What does this ranking show?: It orders states by Standard rooftop solar payback. It is one measure, not an overall verdict on where to live.
Where do the figures come from?: NREL PVWatts; NREL Annual Technology Baseline; EIA Form 861. States without a comparable published figure are listed as not ranked rather than estimated.
How should I use it?: Use it to narrow your search, then open a state or county profile for the source date, caveats and local context.

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<iframe src="https://movermath.com/embed/solar-payback" width="100%" height="420" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Standard rooftop solar payback by state"></iframe>

Source: NREL PVWatts; NREL Annual Technology Baseline; EIA Form 861. · How this is built

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