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Solar panel cost and payback in North Carolina
Measured production, your actual utility's filed rates, and honest payback maths with no federal tax credit applied - because for a home bought today there is not one.
The Residential Clean Energy Credit was terminated for home purchases after 2025-12-31, so the $29,300 above is what a North Carolina household actually pays - not a headline price with a rebate quietly subtracted. A quote that still shows the credit is overstating your return by about that amount, which on these numbers is roughly 8 years of savings.
What solar costs in North Carolina at different bills
Worked at 1405 kWh per kW per year and $0.1043 per kWh, the midpoints across the 3 metros below, at $2.93 per watt installed.
| Monthly bill | System | Cost | Year-1 saving | Payback | 25-year net |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $120 | 9.8 kW | $28,792 | $1,145 | 20.2 yrs | +$9,064 |
| $200 | 10.0 kWroof limit; covers 61% | $29,300 | $1,165 | 20.2 yrs | +$9,224 |
| $300 | 10.0 kWroof limit; covers 41% | $29,300 | $1,165 | 20.2 yrs | +$9,224 |
Exported surplus is valued at zero throughout, so these are floors rather than best cases. Where fully covering the bill would need more panels than a roof holds, the row shows the largest system that actually fits and the share of your usage it covers - not the lifetime return on an array nobody can build. Your own bill and roof will move them - run your address.
Sunlight and rates by North Carolina metro
Straight from NREL PVWatts and the utility rate database, by named utility. This is why one statewide figure does not work.
| Metro | Utility | Production | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charlotte | Duke Energy Carolinas | 1,415 kWh/kW | $0.1022 |
| Raleigh | Duke Energy Carolinas|Progress Energy Carolinas | 1,379 kWh/kW | $0.1043 |
| Asheville | Progress Energy Carolinas|Tennessee Valley Authority | 1,405 kWh/kW | $0.1067 |
What North Carolina pays you for surplus power
Net metering, restructured
Duke Energy moved residential solar onto newer rider tariffs. The terms are not the flat retail-rate netting older guides describe, so confirm which rider you would be on before signing anything.
North Carolina's residential solar customers are served under Duke Energy's Solar Choice and Net Metering Bridge riders rather than the simple retail netting that applied historically. The details, including time-of-use periods and fixed charges, are set in North Carolina Utilities Commission proceedings and have been revised more than once. We have not restated the current numbers here because they change and a stale figure would cost you money -- ask Duke which rider applies to a system installed today, and get the answer in writing.
Checked 2026-08-21 against Duke Energy, Solar Choice net metering. Export rules are being rewritten across the country, so verify before you sign. Current incentive detail for North Carolina is maintained at DSIRE, which we link to rather than copy precisely because it changes.
Is solar worth it in North Carolina?
Only partly, and not in the way a bill-based estimate suggests. A roof here covers about 61% of that much consumption. Power at $0.1043 per kWh is cheap, so a $200 bill in North Carolina represents a great many kilowatt-hours -- more than 16.4 kW of panels would be needed to cover them all. The 10.0 kW that does fit costs $29,300 and returns about $9,224 over 25 years, paying for itself in roughly 20.2 years. Before enlarging the system, reducing what you use costs nothing and shrinks the array you need.
Your own bill and roof move this more than the state average does, and North Carolina households vary widely on both. Run your ZIP code through the calculator for numbers worked from your own utility rather than a North Carolina midpoint. It asks for no email address and nobody will call you.
North Carolina solar questions
Does North Carolina still have net metering?
Not in the simple form older guides describe. Residential customers are served under Duke Energy's newer rider tariffs rather than flat retail-rate netting, and the terms have been revised more than once through North Carolina Utilities Commission proceedings. Ask Duke which rider a system installed today would fall under, and get the answer in writing before you sign.
Why does this page not list the current North Carolina credit rate?
Because we could not verify it to the standard we hold for the production and rate figures above, and a stale number here would cost you real money. That is a deliberate omission rather than an oversight. The Duke tariff page and DSIRE, both linked above, carry the current position.
Is solar worth it in North Carolina?
It is a middling case. The state gets reasonable sun but comparatively inexpensive power, and cheap electricity is what stretches payback. The answer turns more than usual on which rider you end up on, so treat any North Carolina estimate, including ours, as provisional until you have that in writing.