Solar payback by US state

Where home solar pays back fastest depends on two numbers: your electricity rate and your local sun. High-rate, sunny states like Hawaii, California and Massachusetts see the shortest payback; cheap-power states like Washington and Nevada the longest. Pick a state below for a calculator pre-filled with real local data.

Source: EIA & NREL. Data as of March–June 2026.

Each state page uses the solar payback calculator pre-filled with the figures below. Rates are average residential prices from the EIA; the production factor is derived from NREL sun-hour data and a standard system derate.

State	Residential rate (¢/kWh)	Peak sun hours/day	Production (kWh/kW/yr)
Hawaii	42.23	5.8	1,680
California	33.35	5.6	1,630
Massachusetts	30.21	4.2	1,230
New York	28.55	3.9	1,180
New Jersey	23.49	4.2	1,230
Pennsylvania	20.92	4.0	1,180
Illinois	18.86	4.0	1,190
Colorado	16.74	5.7	1,620
Texas	16.39	5.1	1,490
North Carolina	16.00	4.7	1,390
Arizona	15.59	6.5	1,850
Georgia	15.01	4.9	1,440
Florida	14.86	5.3	1,540
Washington	14.40	3.8	1,090
Nevada	14.17	6.2	1,790