Discover your exact solar savings potential in Utah. We factor in local utility rates, sun hours, and state-specific incentives to give you an accurate ROI estimate.
DISCLAIMER: All estimates are approximations based on regional averages. Actual savings vary by location, roof orientation, utility provider, and installer. This calculator does not guarantee specific savings.
Electricity rates last updated: August 2026 (source: EIA)
Find out how much you can save based on your location and current energy usage.
Utah's dominant utility, Rocky Mountain Power (RMP), does not offer traditional 1:1 net metering. Instead, RMP uses a Net Billing tariff (Schedule 137) that compensates solar exports at a rate well below the retail electricity rate. As of the most recent annual update, export rates are approximately 5.636¢/kWh from June through September and approximately 4.745¢/kWh from October through May. These export rates are revised each year, effective March 1st — so the exact figures that apply to your system will depend on the year your system is interconnected and RMP's annual filings with the Public Service Commission of Utah. At year-end, any remaining kWh credits from your solar exports are credited to a utility-wide Energy Balancing Account rather than paid out to you directly. This is meaningfully less generous than the full retail-rate net metering offered in states like Massachusetts, New Jersey, or Maryland. The practical implication: Utah homeowners benefit most from solar electricity they consume directly in their homes; exporting surplus to the grid earns much less per kWh than offsetting retail consumption. Right-sizing your system for your actual household consumption, rather than oversizing to maximize exports, is the financially sounder strategy under Schedule 137.
Many websites and installer marketing materials still claim Utah offers a state income tax credit for residential solar — this is no longer accurate for new installations. Utah's Renewable Energy Systems Tax Credit (RESTC) for residential solar was phased down over several years: up to $1,600 for systems installed in 2018–2020; $1,200 for 2021; $800 for 2022; $400 for 2023. The credit was completely eliminated for residential solar PV systems installed in 2024 or later. As of 2026, there is no Utah state income tax credit for residential solar. If an installer or comparison website quotes you a Utah state tax credit alongside a new installation, verify whether that credit still exists for your installation year before signing any contract — it does not.
Utah exempts the purchase or lease of solar energy production equipment from state and local sales tax under current Utah law. This is a meaningful savings: Utah's state base sales tax rate is 4.85%, and combined state-plus-local rates typically range from about 6.35% to 8.45% depending on your city and county — so the exemption can save hundreds to over a thousand dollars on a typical residential system. However, this exemption is currently authorized only through June 30, 2027, unless renewed by the Utah State Legislature before that date. If the legislature does not act to extend it, the exemption expires. Homeowners installing systems before the deadline will have captured this benefit regardless of what happens legislatively after 2027, but those planning installations in 2027 should monitor the exemption's status as the deadline approaches.
Utah does not include the value added by a solar energy system when assessing residential property taxes. A fully owned solar installation is treated as tax-exempt personal property for property tax purposes, so your property tax bill will not increase as a result of installing solar. This is an automatic benefit that applies without requiring a separate application or annual filing. It directly addresses one of homeowners' most common concerns about solar — that installing it will raise their property taxes. In Utah, that concern does not apply to a residential rooftop system.
Utah averages roughly 5.26 peak sun hours per day with over 220 sunny days per year — a strong solar resource, well above the national average of approximately 4 peak sun hours per day. Utah's combination of high elevation, arid climate, and low cloud cover makes it one of the better solar states by raw resource quality. More peak sun hours per day means more electricity generated per installed kilowatt of panel capacity: a 10 kW system in Salt Lake City will produce meaningfully more kilowatt-hours annually than the same system in a cloudier state like Washington or Ohio. Hedged note: these averages vary by location within Utah — the Moab area and southern Utah generally see more sun than northern valleys near the Wasatch Front during winter inversion seasons. Use location-specific production data for your ZIP code and roof orientation when evaluating installer proposals.
Utah's average residential electricity rate is roughly 11–13.3¢/kWh depending on the source and time period — approximately 20–35% below the national average. Low electricity rates extend the payback period for solar compared with higher-rate states, since each kWh generated offsets fewer dollars of grid electricity. Combined with RMP's below-retail export rate under Schedule 137, Utah homeowners face a more constrained solar economics environment than appears at first glance — strong sun but low rates and limited export value. This makes maximizing self-consumption (using your solar power directly rather than exporting it) the most important design principle for a Utah system. Confirm your current retail rate with Rocky Mountain Power or your specific utility before calculating projected savings.
The 30% federal residential solar tax credit (Section 25D) expired December 31, 2025 under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and does NOT apply to solar energy systems installed in 2026 or later. Some installer websites and comparison tools still display a 30% federal credit in their quote calculators for 2026 installations — that figure is outdated for new residential purchases. If you are financing through a lease or power purchase agreement (PPA), ask your installer specifically whether their pricing reflects a federal commercial Investment Tax Credit (Section 48E) passthrough — but confirm any claimed passthrough in writing. For Utah homeowners purchasing a system outright in 2026, the primary tax benefits are the sales tax exemption (through June 30, 2027) and the property tax exemption; there is no federal income tax credit and no Utah state income tax credit.
Everything you need to know about solar incentives, costs, and savings in your area.