Is solar worth it in Washington?

What drives solar payback in Washington

Washington homeowners pay about 13.8¢/kWh, which is 4.6¢ below the national average. A rooftop here generates roughly 1100 kWh per kW each year — below the typical US figure. On exports, Washington offers full retail net metering: Cheap hydropower and cloudy skies make Washington one of the longest paybacks.

A worked example

For a Washington home with a $121/month power bill (typical household usage at Washington’s rate):

That nets out to a payback of about 16.8 years — shorter than simply dividing net cost by year-one savings, because power prices climb ~2.5%/yr so your savings grow each year. 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 Washington

Washington is dominated by public power, so who you buy from shapes your terms more than in most states. Three investor-owned utilities cover much of the population: Puget Sound Energy (PSE), Avista in the east around Spokane, and Pacific Power in the south-west. Alongside them sit large publicly owned systems — Seattle City Light, Tacoma Power, Snohomish County PUD, Clark Public Utilities and Chelan County PUD among them — plus numerous smaller public utility districts (PUDs) and municipal utilities. State law requires every utility, public or private, to offer net metering, so the basic export deal is broadly consistent statewide, but rates, fees and interconnection details vary noticeably from one provider to the next.

What you’re paid for what you export

Your meter in Washington treats exported power the same as imported: state law obliges every utility, public or private, to credit exports at the full retail rate, surplus rolls forward month to month, and the mandate covers systems up to 100 kW, so home arrays are comfortably inside it. That's the good news, and it's real. The catch is what 'retail' means here — about 13.7 cents/kWh, some of the cheapest power in America thanks to all that hydropower — so each banked kilowatt-hour simply isn't worth much. And credits still sitting on the account at the annual true-up (often in spring) are typically granted to the utility rather than paid out, so size the system to what you'll actually consume rather than overbuilding for export income.

Washington incentives & taxes in 2026

Washington's headline solar programme is closed. The Renewable Energy System Incentive Program, which paid owners per kilowatt-hour generated, hit its funding cap and shut to new applicants back in 2021, and new installs cannot join it. What remains in 2026 is thin: a retail sales-and-use tax exemption on qualifying systems (broadly those up to 100 kW), which usefully trims the upfront bill, and — since Washington has no state income tax — no state credit to claim either way. There is no statewide SREC market. Local utility rebates do surface and change from time to time, so a quick check with yours is worthwhile.

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 Washington list, then type any incentive into the calculator above to see how it shortens your payback.

What solar costs in Washington

Installers are thick on the ground in the Puget Sound corridor, and it shows in the pricing: $2.70 to $3.20 per watt is typical for a residential job, no worse than the national norm and often a little better. Head into rural eastern Washington or out to the coast, where crews are scarce, and quotes climb. A common 7-8 kW system runs from the high teens into the low twenties of thousands of dollars before the sales-tax exemption shaves its bit off.

The honest verdict for Washington

There's no way to dress this up: Washington is among the hardest states in the country to make rooftop solar pay. Hydropower keeps the retail rate low, and cloudy skies hold output to roughly 1,100 kWh per kilowatt of panels a year — you generate less, and each unit you generate saves you less. Retail-rate crediting and the sales-tax exemption soften the blow, but with the production incentive closed, expect a long payback, often well into the teens of years. Solar can still add up for heavy consumers, homes whose usage skews off-peak, or anyone who puts a price on resilience — but the pure financial case is weak.

Driving electric — or heating electric — in Washington?

Your home electricity rate also sets what it costs to charge an EV and whether a heat pump beats a gas furnace. See the Washington EV charging cost and the Washington heat pump vs gas comparison.

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