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Compare solar for your state
See typical costs, incentives and how long solar takes to pay for itself where you live.
Cash, loan or lease?
The same solar system paid for three ways. See what each costs up front, each month and after 25 years.
How we work this out
- One typical system, sized to cover about 90% of your use, with the same electricity savings in all three options. Electricity prices rise 3% a year and panels lose 0.5% of output a year.
- Cash and loan: you own the system. Any statewide incentive we can price is taken off the cost. There is no federal tax credit, because it ended after 2025.
- Loan: the whole cost is borrowed with nothing down, at the rate and length you choose. Real rates depend on your credit and the lender.
- Lease: the company owns the system. We assume you pay 80% of the first year's savings, going up 2.9% a year, for 25 years. Real lease terms vary a lot, so read the contract's yearly increase carefully.
Estimates for a typical home, not quotes. See the full state guides for local incentives.
Compare states
Typical payback time for each state.
- Alabama 15 yrs
- Alaska 12 yrs
- Arizona 12 yrs
- Arkansas 20 yrs
- California 7 yrs
- Colorado 14 yrs
- Connecticut 9 yrs
- Delaware 15 yrs
- Florida 15 yrs
- Georgia 17 yrs
- Hawaii 4 yrs
- Idaho 19 yrs
- Illinois 16 yrs
- Indiana 17 yrs
- Iowa 18 yrs
- Kansas 16 yrs
- Kentucky 19 yrs
- Louisiana 18 yrs
- Maine 11 yrs
- Maryland 14 yrs
- Massachusetts 9 yrs
- Michigan 13 yrs
- Minnesota 16 yrs
- Mississippi 16 yrs
- Missouri 19 yrs
- Montana 17 yrs
- Nebraska 19 yrs
- Nevada 13 yrs
- New Hampshire 11 yrs
- New Jersey 13 yrs
- New Mexico 12 yrs
- New York 9 yrs
- North Carolina 17 yrs
- North Dakota 21 yrs
- Ohio 16 yrs
- Oklahoma 18 yrs
- Oregon 17 yrs
- Pennsylvania 14 yrs
- Rhode Island 10 yrs
- South Carolina 14 yrs
- South Dakota 17 yrs
- Tennessee 19 yrs
- Texas 14 yrs
- Utah 17 yrs
- Vermont 12 yrs
- Virginia 17 yrs
- Washington 20 yrs
- West Virginia 17 yrs
- Wisconsin 15 yrs
- Wyoming 16 yrs
Who is behind this site
SolarHomeCompare is an independent comparison site for US homeowners. We are paid a commission by some of the providers we link to, which is how the site stays free. It does not change the numbers we show. How we make money