When the One Big Beautiful Bill passed on July 4, 2025, it reshaped the future of residential solar energy in the United States. One of its most consequential provisions was the elimination of the federal solar installation tax credit, effective January 1, 2027. For years, this 30% incentive helped millions of American homeowners afford the upfront cost of solar energy systems. With it gone, the economics of going solar have fundamentally changed.

But for many homeowners, the decision to install solar panels isn’t only driven by federal incentives. For these homeowners:

• It’s a financial decision: In states where electricity prices are already high and increasing every year, solar provides financial protection for homeowners.  Additionally, some states provide strong financial incentives that can help to fill the gap that federal incentives will leave behind.
• It’s a climate decision: A growing number of households are motivated by the urgent need to reduce emissions, improve air quality, and take local action on climate change. And in sunny states, solar is disproportionately productive, resulting in increased ROI and an accelerated breakeven.
• It’s a preparedness decision: Others are concerned about worsening grid instability, frequent blackouts, or the rising cost of electricity from traditional sources.
  
  

At SolarTech, we wanted to answer a simple question: Where in the U.S. does it make the most sense to install residential solar panels, even without the federal 30% tax credit? To do so, we conducted a 50-state analysis using public data on:

• Current electricity prices
• Year-over-year electricity price increase
• State-level solar incentives
• Total annual power outage hours
• Total annual sunshine hours
  
  

We created a weighted composite score to identify the 10 most favorable and 10 least favorable states for solar installation after federal incentives disappear. Here’s what we found.