Is solar worth it in Washington?
Short answer for a typical Washington home: a long payback — roughly 18.7 years to break even after the 30% credit. Run your own bill through the calculator below.
Washington gets limited sunshine — about 3.5 peak sun hours a day — and residential electricity runs around $0.11/kWh. For a typical $150-a-month power bill, that points to roughly a 16.0-kW system costing about $33,624 after the 30% federal tax credit, paying for itself in about 18.7 years and netting on the order of $27,741 over 25 years. Your own numbers will differ — the calculator above uses your real bill.
Washington has the least sun and very cheap hydro electricity, so pure-savings payback is the longest in the country — solar here is more about energy independence than fast returns. The federal credit still applies, and there's a sales-tax exemption.
What changes the math in Washington
- Your electricity rate — the more you pay per kWh, the more each solar kWh saves you. Washington sits at about $0.11.
- Sun hours — more sun means a smaller, cheaper system covers the same usage. Washington averages ~3.5 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.