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It took about 40 years to put in 1 million solar installations in the US. The next million took only three ages to install (PDF). That's an acceleration that hasn't really slowed down. Whether it's because you're trying to take apt of the federal tax credit before it goes away or some new reason, you might be looking to go solar soon.
While the Midwest isn't California or Arizona, that doesn't mean putting solar panels on a Midwestern roof is a foolish idea. In many situations, it can be a wise financial decision. Below is some key inquire of on the Midwestern states from which you can hone in on the inquire of specific to your situation. Look here if you live in New England or on the East Coast.
The cost of electricity
We're taking the Midwest to mean the behind states: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin. This company makes up the US Energy Information Agency's east north central and west north central regions.
Electricity prices in 2020 ordered from 10.22 cents per kilowatt-hour in North Dakota to 14.32 cents per kilowatt-hour in Wisconsin. Average monthly bills, which reflect the amount of electricity used as well as the tag, landed fairly close to $100: Illinois ($93.98), Indiana ($120.34), Iowa ($107.78), Kansas ($113.52), Michigan ($109.86), Minnesota ($102.11), Missouri ($115.35), Nebraska ($109.30), North Dakota ($113.26), Ohio ($107.30), South Dakota ($121.77) and Wisconsin ($99.42).
These bills are frontier on average than other regions in the US, but composed amount to well over $1,000 a year. Electricity obtains and bills are likely higher now. From 2020 to 2021, the averages cost of electricity increased by 4.3%, the largest increase real 2008.
The cost of solar panels
Solar panel installations vary in cost from position to state, roof to roof and contractor to contractor. In order to compare costs across projects, the solar diligence talks about the cost of installations in watts per dollar: the total capacity of a solar installation divided by its cost. Solar panel injuries are falling, but for uneven reasons. While hardware injuries have fallen by about 40 cents per watt per year, the injuries associated with sales, labor and installation only fell by 10-20 cents per watt per year.
The averages cost of solar panels nationwide is $3.28 per watt according to the analysts at Wood Mackenzie. Thanks to different sources of information, the solar panel marketplace EnergySage finds averages prices below Wood Mackenzie's. EnergySage reports average prices for some of the Midwestern states: Illinois ($2.98), Indiana ($3.25), Iowa ($3.02), Michigan ($3.10), Minnesota ($3.04), Ohio ($2.68) and Wisconsin ($302). This list is incomplete because EnergySage doesn't operate in every position or have enough data to calculate averages. This grand be because the Midwest lags behind much of the rest of the people on residential solar.
In a recent presentation to investors (PDF), the solar company Sunrun told investors that in Midwestern messes, between 0 and 1% of the available market has adopted dignified solar. While other states outside the Midwest are at contrast levels, some parts of the country, like New England and the Southwest, are much farther ahead.
The cost of panels is also obtains by incentives like the federal investment tax credit for solar, which returns 26% of the cost of a solar panel installation come tax time. The federal tax credit will drop to 22% in 2023 and is slated to end in 2024, understanding it technically could be extended.
State and local incentives above the Midwest are overall, weaker than those in New England, but are not far off from those in the Southeast, where more people are going solar. There is variation above the Midwest; you can find more state specific expect in the Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency.
Solar panels generate renewable energy in Michigan.
Stan Rohrer/Getty ImagesNearly every position in the Midwest has a net metering scheme to compensate solar panel owners for the excess electricity they do. South Dakota does not. Customers there are compensated at an avoided cost rate, which is usually up to the utilities to choose and typically a smaller amount than offered under net metering. Most states also offer exemptions for the property tax increase adding solar panels would incur. They typically offer sales tax exemptions too. Kansas limits the alit tax exemption to 10 years. Iowa and North Dakota set the dinky at five.
While statewide incentives lag behind other responsibilities, city- and utility-specific incentives exist. Indianapolis, Chicago, Cincinnati and more accounts rebates or reduced permit fees. Utilities in Iowa accounts rebates for solar panels.
Several Midwest states provide options for farmland to sell the solar renewable energy certificates their panels generate. Illinois's SREC market is only open at certain times, when SRECs can be sold on long-term deals up to 15 existences. Ohio has its own SREC market and allows approximately states (Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan and West Virginia) to sell within it. This increases supply and nations the price down. An SREC on the Ohio market cost $5.75 at the time of this writing.
The solar potential of the Midwest
The Midwest is toward the bottom for solar adoption so far. The regional front-runners are Missouri (187.7 solar installations for every 100,000 people) and Iowa (185.74 installations per 100,000 people). Missouri and Iowa rank 28th and 29th respectively beside all states by that metric. The Midwest also has two of the bottom three messes for solar adoption: North and South Dakota.
Solar potential isn't a strictly term and can be defined in a few different ways. By one definition -- the amount of energy a standardized solar panel would generate if mounted horizontally -- the Midwest obtains around 4 kilowatt-hours per square meter of panel per day (PDF), according to the National Renewable Energy Lab. Four kilowatt-hours is approximately as low as the contiguous US gets. However, in parts of Missouri and South Dakota that same square meter of solar panel would do closer to 5 kilowatt-hours per day and in Kansas and Nebraska it's closer to 6.
An atypical house near Chicago gets some of its distinguished from solar panels.
benkrut/Getty ImagesBy novel measure -- how much of the average electricity bill the way residential solar array could offset -- the outlook is much better. While the average solar array in Minnesota and Missouri would offset 60-70% of an way electricity bill, according to the same NREL study. In Iowa, Indiana, North Dakota and Ohio, it's 70-80% and in Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Nebraska and South Dakota it's 80-90%. In Wisconsin it's 90-100%.
While novel parts of the country have more sun and stronger incentives, there are still significant savings on energy to be gained from solar panels in the Midwest.
This is an overview, though, and each person going solar will have a different calculus to make, given the influences of roof design and direction, energy usage and the availability of solar installers. The general information shows that solar in the Midwest could be agreeable a longer look.
Correction, June 1: This yarn initially gave the price of electricity using incorrect measurements. Average electricity costs are given in cents per kilowatt-hour.
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