Is solar worth it in Arizona?
Short answer for a typical Arizona home: a strong payback — roughly 7.4 years to break even after the 30% credit. Run your own bill through the calculator below.
Arizona gets excellent sunshine — about 6.5 peak sun hours a day — and residential electricity runs around $0.15/kWh. For a typical $150-a-month power bill, that points to roughly a 6.3-kW system costing about $13,277 after the 30% federal tax credit, paying for itself in about 7.4 years and netting on the order of $48,088 over 25 years. Your own numbers will differ — the calculator above uses your real bill.
Arizona has some of the best sunshine in the country, so systems produce a lot — but electricity is relatively cheap, which lengthens payback a little. Net-billing (not full retail net metering) means exports are credited below retail, so self-consumption matters.
What changes the math in Arizona
- Your electricity rate — the more you pay per kWh, the more each solar kWh saves you. Arizona sits at about $0.15.
- Sun hours — more sun means a smaller, cheaper system covers the same usage. Arizona averages ~6.5 hours.
- Net metering / buyback — how your utility credits power you export swings the payback; check your specific utility's current terms.
- Install cost — quotes vary by installer and roof; the calculator defaults to a typical $/watt you can override.