Is solar worth it in Idaho?
At Idaho’s average rate of 12.3¢/kWh and about 1350 kWh per kW of panels a year, a typical home pays back its system in roughly 24.5 years on electricity savings alone — no federal credit, which ended for buyers at the end of 2025 — then keeps saving. Run your own numbers below.
Sources: EIA · NREL · IRS. No federal credit — it ended 31 Dec 2025.
Independent estimate for guidance only — not a quote or advice. Low power prices lengthen payback; net-metering rules are in flux.
What drives solar payback in Idaho
Idaho homeowners pay about 12.3¢/kWh, which is 6.1¢ below the national average. A rooftop here generates roughly 1350 kWh per kW each year — about the typical US figure. On exports, Idaho offers partial / below-retail export credit: Low power prices lengthen payback; net-metering rules are in flux.
Idaho electricity price trend
Average residential rate, monthly, May 2023 – Apr 2026. Up 18% over the period.
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), Electric Power Monthly · range 10.71–13.01¢/kWh
A worked example
For an Idaho home with a $108/month power bill (typical household usage at Idaho’s rate):
That nets out to a payback of about 24.5 years — shorter than simply dividing net cost by year-one savings, because power prices climb ~2.5%/yr so your savings grow each year. Year-one savings already reflect Idaho’s below-retail export rate (you save full value on the power you use as it’s made, less on what you export), which is why they’re lower than the bill. Assumes 3.00 $/W installed before incentives and a typical 40% self-consumption; your actual cost, roof and usage will differ — adjust the calculator above.
Who supplies your power in Idaho
Idaho is served mainly by three investor-owned utilities. Idaho Power covers the southern and south-central regions, including the Boise area, and is by far the largest. Rocky Mountain Power (part of PacifiCorp) serves the south-east, and Avista handles the northern panhandle around Coeur d'Alene. Beyond these, a network of rural electric co-operatives and a few municipal systems serves outlying areas. This matters because net-metering terms are set utility by utility here, not statewide, so your export credit and rate structure depend heavily on which of these serves your address.
What you’re paid for what you export
Both of Idaho's biggest utilities have walked away from retail-rate export crediting, and the rules keep moving. Idaho Power shifted new rooftop customers to net billing in January 2024: exports earn a time-varying Export Credit Rate pegged to the utility's avoided cost, not the retail price you pay for imports. Rocky Mountain Power has done the same for its non-legacy customers, with a seasonal, time-differentiated export credit that took effect in October 2025 and is updated annually. Avista, up in the northern panhandle, is the holdout — it still runs traditional net metering, banking kWh credits that reset each spring, though it has signalled its structure could change too. For Idaho Power and Rocky Mountain Power customers the arithmetic is blunt: a kilowatt-hour used on-site beats an exported one by a wide margin. Size for your daytime load, weigh up a battery, and get the current export rate from your utility in writing before you sign — these terms have shifted repeatedly.
Idaho incentives & taxes in 2026
Idaho's incentive cupboard is nearly bare, so be realistic. No state solar tax credit, no SREC market, no dedicated solar sales-tax exemption. The one meaningful state benefit is the Residential Alternative Energy Tax Deduction: 40% of eligible system cost deductible in the first year, then 20% in each of the next three, capped both per year and over the life of the deduction. Note the word deduction — it reduces your Idaho taxable income rather than your tax bill directly, so its real value tracks your marginal rate and is modest next to a straight rebate. The caps and limits change, so confirm the current figures before counting on them.
The 30% federal credit ended on 31 December 2025 and can now only reach a homeowner indirectly through a lease or PPA. Check the current state and utility programs on DSIRE’s Idaho list, then type any incentive into the calculator above to see how it shortens your payback.
What solar costs in Idaho
Hardware is not Idaho's problem. Systems price at roughly $2.80 to $3.30 per watt — much like the rest of the country — putting an 8 kW install at around $22,000 to $26,000 before the state deduction, and the Boise and Coeur d'Alene markets have competitive local and regional installers. Production is strong too, about 1,350 kWh per kW each year. What drags the payback is cheap grid power and weak export credit, not the panels or what you pay for them.
The honest verdict for Idaho
Everything conspires to stretch the payback here. Retail power costs only about 12.2 cents/kWh, so each self-consumed kilowatt-hour saves little; the two largest utilities now pay below retail for exports; there's no longer any federal money in the deal; and the state's sole contribution is a modest income-tax deduction. On our default assumptions an owned system takes roughly 20 to 25 years to repay, pulling down towards the high teens only if you size tightly to daytime use and consume most of what you generate. That doesn't make solar pointless in Idaho — energy independence, a long stay in the house or above-average usage can all justify it — but the quick-payback logic of the Northeast simply doesn't travel here.
Sources for this page
Driving electric — or heating electric — in Idaho?
Your home electricity rate also sets what it costs to charge an EV and whether a heat pump beats a gas furnace. See the Idaho EV charging cost and the Idaho heat pump vs gas comparison.