Photo: Alan Stark, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Arizona · Phoenix

Phoenix solar in 2026

Written by the Solar Learning Lab research deskUpdated August 17, 202610 min read

The most productive solar city in America is also the one where the deal is getting worse on a published schedule. Phoenix roofs make more energy than anywhere else we cover, 1,807 kWh per kW per year in our PVGIS run. But what that energy earns depends on which of two utilities owns the wires on your street, and on the APS side the export rate steps down again on September 1. In this market, the calendar and the utility map matter more than the brand of panel.

15.2¢

Arizona average residential rate per kWh, across both APS and SRP territory

$2.20/W

Average cash price in Arizona, so a 7 kW system runs about $15,400 before the state credit

1,807 kWh

Annual output per kW installed, the highest of any city we cover, from our PVGIS run

APS credits exports at 6.171 cents per kWh through August 31, 2026, locked for 10 years at whatever tranche is in force when you apply. Regulators voted on August 12 to cut the next tranche to 5.54 cents. SRP credits a flat 3.45 cents on its export plans. Arizona's Form 310 credit still pays 25 percent up to $1,000, and Phoenix runs SolarAPP+ instant permitting with published flat fees. The state of play: install prices here are among the nation's lowest, and export values keep shrinking.

Beat the September 1 step-down

Four questions, priced with APS and SRP export rates, the Form 310 credit and our Phoenix production model. The math shows before any contact info.

Get my Phoenix estimate

Which side of the line are you on?

Phoenix is split between APS, the investor owned utility regulated by the Corporation Commission, and SRP, a public power district with its own elected board and its own rules. Same city, same sun, different solar economics:

	APS	SRP
Export credit	6.171 cents per kWh through Aug 31, 2026	3.45 cents per kWh, fixed
Rate lock	10 years from interconnection	No equivalent published lock
Mechanism	Rider RCP net billing, credits roll monthly, refund check above $25 at year end	Instantaneous export tracking on Export plans; demand based plans use net metering
Extras	No rebate found; compensation is the bill credit	$250 demand management rebate, limited time

Sources: APS Rate Rider RCP schedule; APS renewable riders; SRP compare solar plans; SRP rebates, verified August 17, 2026. Check your own address on the APS territory map before believing any quote.

September 1 is a real deadline, with a real caveat

APS resets its export tranche every September 1, and the tariff caps each cut at 10 percent. On August 12, 2026 the Corporation Commission voted to take the full 10 percent, dropping the rate to 5.54 cents, after APS had asked for a 36.8 percent cut to 4.511 cents. Two things follow. First, an interconnection application completed before the new tranche takes effect locks 6.171 cents for a decade; existing customers keep their rate. Second, the pressure is structural: the same reporting notes APS rooftop installations fell 12 percent in 2025 and 47 percent so far in 2026.

The caveat we flag rather than bury: the 5.54 cent figure comes from trade press and industry coverage of the August 12 vote. As of our verification date, no APS or ACC tariff page carrying 5.54 cents had been published. Treat it as pending tariff publication, not gospel.

Sources: PV Tech; AriSEIA ACC updates; APS RCP schedule. Also live: the APS general rate case, hearings concluded July 7, decision due by December 31, new rates expected in early 2027 (ACC).

Grid power, gas heat, and solar, side by side

Phoenix energy is cheap by coastal standards, which is exactly why the solar case here rests on volume rather than rate. You use enormous amounts of electricity cooling a desert house, and a rooftop system produces it for less than a third of what either utility charges.

Energy source	Type	Average price	What that means
APS / SRP	Electricity	15.23¢ per kWh	EIA Arizona residential average, May 2026, labeled as such since neither utility publishes one blended residential figure across its rate plans.
Southwest Gas	Natural gas	$22.44 per Mcf	Arizona residential average, May 2026, the latest EIA month. Roughly 7.4 cents per kWh of raw heat, though most Phoenix homes lean on electricity, not gas.
Rooftop solar, owned	Electricity	~4.9¢ per kWh	Our estimate: $2.20 per watt cash over 25 years of Phoenix PVGIS output, the cheapest self-generated kWh of our five cities. Exported surplus earns less: 6.171 cents at APS, 3.45 at SRP.

Electricity: EIA Table 5.6.A, May 2026. Gas: EIA natural gas prices, Arizona residential, May 2026; 1 Mcf holds about 304 kWh of thermal energy. Solar figure is our own calculation, method on the methodology page.

A Phoenix roof, month by month

Desert solar has a plot twist: May outproduces July. Panel output falls as cell temperature rises, and 110 degree afternoons plus monsoon clouds knock July down to 149.1 kWh per kW against May's 173.6. Our PVGIS runs bake that heat derating into the 14 percent loss assumption, so 1,807 is the after-heat annual number. Even the December floor, 124.5, beats what a New York roof makes in April.

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

May, highlighted, is the peak at 173.6 kWh per kW. The July dip is heat derating plus monsoon season, not a defect in your system. Any installer who projects a smooth summer curve here has not read the weather.

Method: PVGIS v5.2, NSRDB radiation database. PVGIS v5.2 model run by Solar Learning Lab on August 17, 2026, NSRDB radiation database. Fixed south facing mount, 30 degree tilt, 14 percent losses, central Phoenix coordinates. Your roof will differ.

What solar costs in Phoenix by system size

Arizona's $2.20 per watt cash average is nearly the cheapest in the country, and it lands on the most productive roofs we track. One honest wrinkle: the year 1 values below price every kWh at the retail rate, which is only true for the energy you use as it is produced. Surplus exported to the grid earns 6.171 cents at APS and 3.45 at SRP, so oversizing a Phoenix system pays worse than anywhere else on this site.

System size	Cash price	Year 1 output	Year 1 value at 15.23¢
5 kW	$11,000	9,037 kWh	~$1,376
7 kW	$15,400	12,651 kWh	~$1,927
8 kW	$17,600	14,458 kWh	~$2,202
10 kW	$22,000	18,073 kWh	~$2,753

Our calculations: size times $2.20 per watt from EnergySage Arizona cash averages, August 2026; output from our PVGIS run of 1,807 kWh per kW; value at the EIA state average. Estimates, not quotes. Arizona's Form 310 credit returns 25 percent up to $1,000; the federal 25D credit is gone for 2026 cash purchases.

Size to your usage, not your roof

The calculator below takes your actual monthly bill and shows where extra kilowatts stop paying for themselves.

Jump to the calculator

Permits: instant, automated and priced on a menu

Phoenix is the only city in our five-city study with confirmed automated instant permitting. Standard residential systems go through SolarAPP+, the national automated review platform: the installer gets an approval ID, enters it in the city portal, and the permit issues without waiting on a human plan reviewer. The city publishes flat fee options for residential solar, from $780 with over-the-counter review and three inspections down to $293 with no plan review and one inspection, effective January 20, 2026. A separate fire department permit applies to PV and battery systems, and revisions run $37.50.

Sources: City of Phoenix SolarAPP+ page; PDD fee schedule, Ordinance G-7465. SolarAPP+ charges its own processing fee, which the city page does not state.

The most solar-shaped housing stock we cover

Census data says Phoenix is built for rooftop solar in a way the coastal cities are not: 64.6 percent of housing units are single family and 57.1 percent of households own, both the highest in our five-city study. Electric dependence is heavy too, 74.1 percent heat with electricity and effectively everyone cools with it, on statewide usage averaging 1,075 kWh a month. The physical market is enormous. What is shrinking is the export value, which is why the install-versus-wait question in Phoenix is really a September 1 question.

Sources: US Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates, 2023, Phoenix city; EIA Table 5A. 601,397 households, median income $77,041.

The highest rated solar installers in Phoenix

Phoenix has the deepest installer bench of any market on this site, and the review volume proves it: three of the five companies below carry more than 400 Google reviews. That depth is leverage. Collect at least three bids, and make each one state which utility serves your address and which export rate the production model assumes, because an APS quote pasted onto an SRP house overstates the payback.

Bright Home Energy

Phoenix, AZ

4.8(522 Google reviews)

Ultra Energy

Phoenix, AZ

4.9(441 Google reviews)

American Solar & Roofing

Phoenix, AZ

4.6(429 Google reviews)

Solar Topps

Phoenix, AZ

4.6(254 Google reviews)

Independent Solar

Phoenix, AZ

4.6(112 Google reviews)

Ratings and review counts are Google Maps ratings for Phoenix local results, retrieved August 17, 2026 via the DataForSEO SERP API. We list the highest rated established companies we found. No company paid to appear here, and appearing here is not an endorsement. Check current reviews and licensing before you sign anything.

Run your own numbers

Preloaded with the EIA Arizona average rate and our Phoenix PVGIS run. Arizona's Form 310 credit is built in. If you are in SRP territory, expect export economics below what simple bill offset math suggests.

Monthly electric bill

$160

Production factor (kWh per kW per year)

1,807

The top of the slider is our south facing PVGIS run for Phoenix. The lower bound approximates an east or west facing roof, which typically gives up 10 to 15 percent.

Cash price per watt

$2.20

National cash median was $3.50 per watt for 2024 installs (LBNL). Massachusetts quotes often run higher. Use your quote.

Assumptions you can change

Utility rate escalation, % per year

2.5%

Loan APR

Loan term, years

Quoted PPA rate, cents per kWh

24c

Use the rate on your actual lease or PPA quote. There is no published statewide average we trust enough to hardcode.

PPA annual escalator

Estimated system: 7 kWAnnual usage: 12,607 kWhState credit: $1,000

Cash purchase

$14,400 after state credit

Year 1 benefit: $161/mo
Payback: 8 years
20 year net position: $32,349

No federal credit for cash purchases in 2026. Arizona's Form 310 credit still pays 25 percent up to $1,000. The bigger lever is which side of the APS and SRP line you live on, and when you interconnect: APS export rates lock for 10 years at whatever tranche is in force when you apply.

Solar loan

$205/mo 15 yr payment

Year 1 net: -$44/mo
Upfront: $0
20 year net position: $9,861

We price loans at $3.40 per watt: the EnergySage Arizona cash figure plus the $1.20 national loan-over-cash spread LBNL documents, since dealer fees get built into loan pricing.

Lease / PPA

$0 down you buy the power

Year 1 net: -$92/mo
Upfront: $0
20 year net position: -$23,380

The provider keeps the federal 48E business credit and prices some of it into your rate. In 2026 this is the only path that captures any federal incentive.

Estimates, not quotes. Phoenix splits between APS and SRP, whose rates and export credits differ sharply, so the rate input uses the EIA Arizona residential average (Table 5.6.A, May 2026) as neutral ground. Production comes from our PVGIS run for Phoenix, cost from EnergySage Arizona data, August 2026. We are a solar installer and we also partner with other solar companies. See our disclosures.

Phoenix solar questions, answered from the data

Every answer comes from the tariffs, fee schedules and production runs cited above, not a national template.

Does Phoenix have net metering?

Not in the classic sense. APS uses net billing under Rider RCP: exports earn 6.171 cents per kWh through August 31, 2026, locked 10 years from your application date. SRP's export plans credit a flat 3.45 cents. Neither pays retail for surplus.

How much does solar cost in Phoenix in 2026?

Arizona's cash average is $2.20 per watt, so a 7 kW system runs about $15,400 before the Form 310 state credit of 25 percent up to $1,000. That is the lowest per-watt price of the five markets we cover.

What does a solar permit cost in Phoenix?

The city publishes flat fees: $293 with no plan review and one inspection, up to $780 with over-the-counter review and three inspections. Standard systems clear through SolarAPP+ instantly, plus a separate fire department permit for PV and battery work.

Why does my system produce less in July than May?

Heat. Panel output drops as cell temperature climbs, and 110 degree afternoons plus monsoon clouds pull July down to 149.1 kWh per kW against May's 173.6 in our PVGIS run. It is physics, not a defect.

Is solar worth it in Phoenix with cheap grid power?

An owned system here generates at roughly 4.9 cents per kWh against a 15.23 cent grid rate, the widest self-consumption spread on this site. The economics only sour on oversized systems, because exported surplus earns 6.171 cents at best and 3.45 at SRP. Size to your usage and the math holds.

What we could not verify

As of August 17, 2026: the 5.54 cent APS export rate is reported from the August 12 ACC vote but not yet published on an APS or ACC tariff page. No APS or City of Phoenix residential solar rebate exists on any page we fetched. SRP does not publish its Battery Partner payment amount or an effective date for the 3.45 cent export rate. And the SolarAPP+ platform fee is not stated on the city's page. Each of these gets updated here when a primary source prints it.

Get your Phoenix estimate

Four questions, answered against this page's APS, SRP and PVGIS data. We are a solar installer and we also partner with other solar companies. Details in our disclosures.

What does your monthly electric bill look like?

Arizona average is $167 per month (EIA, 2024).