Tennessee · Tax exemption
TN Solar Property Tax Exemption
Removes a tax burden residential solar owners in Tennessee would otherwise carry -- see what it covers, eligibility, and payback impact below.
- Property tax exemption
- stated benefit
- Residential
- eligible customers
- 16.7 yr
- Tennessee baseline payback
- 2
- other Tennessee programs
What it means
In Tennessee, a 6 kW system already pays back in about 16.7 years on ~$987/year of modeled savings, and the TN Solar Property Tax Exemption stacks on top of that, on top of any federal credit.
- Property tax e…
- stated benefit
- 16.7 yr
- baseline payback (pre-incentive)
- 3
- Tennessee programs that stack
- partial
- net-metering policy
Payback and savings are modeled from public NREL/EIA data; the program benefit is summarized from DSIRE and may change.
Program description
Tennessee solar energy systems may be exempt from local property taxes.
Program at a glance
- Program type
- Tax exemption
- Eligible customers
- Residential
- Stated benefit
- Property tax exemption
- State electricity rate
- 11.5¢/kWh
- Tennessee solar score
- 25/100
How Tennessee compares to the U.S. average
Why this incentive matters more (or less) here - Tennessee's solar fundamentals against the national average.
Source: NREL irradiance and U.S. EIA rates; payback modeled by PlainSolarData. Bars are scaled to the larger of the two values per metric.
Solar's trajectory in Tennessee
The market this incentive operates in: total installed solar capacity in Tennessee reported to the EIA.
Tennessee's solar incentive stack
How this tax exemption sits among Tennessee's 2 tracked programs, by type
- Tax exemption
Tax exemption
1 programs
- Performance
Performance
1 programs
What this shows Tennessee tracks 2 incentive types; 1 are tax exemptions like this one, removing a cost solar owners would otherwise carry, on top of the state's other program types.
How this incentive fits Tennessee's solar picture
The TN Solar Property Tax Exemption removes a tax burden solar owners would otherwise carry, one of Tennessee's DSIRE-tracked solar incentive programs. Eligibility is scoped to residential customers, with a stated benefit of Property tax exemption. DSIRE lists no scheduled sunset, though enabling legislation and appropriations can still be revised year to year.
That baseline is slower than most states, which raises the stakes for every incentive on the table. Tennessee averages 4.9 kWh/m²/day of usable sunlight and residential rates of 11.5¢/kWh, producing an estimated 8,585 kWh/year and $987 of annual utility offset on a typical 6 kW system costing $16,500. That baseline already implies a 16.7-year simple payback and a 25-year modeled net of roughly $8,175 before this incentive - every dollar this tax exemption delivers compresses that payback further.
A handful of other levers are worth checking alongside this one. Tennessee has 3 solar incentive programs indexed in DSIRE, including adjacent options like TVA Green Power Providers Program (TN). The state's net-metering policy is classified as partial, which governs how excess generation is credited and often decides whether a given program is worth claiming for a specific household.
Your next step
- See Tennessee's full solar profile, score, irradiance, rates, payback, and every program you can claim. Tennessee solar data
- Run the savings calculator with your real bill to see how this incentive changes your own payback. ROI calculator
- Read how state and federal solar credits work together. Tax-credit guide
Estimates here are modeled from public data and are not financial advice; confirm program terms and your own eligibility before relying on a dollar figure.
Other Tennessee incentives
Frequently asked questions
What is the TN Solar Property Tax Exemption?
How does the TN Solar Property Tax Exemption work?
Who is eligible for the TN Solar Property Tax Exemption?
How does this incentive affect solar ROI in Tennessee?
Are there other solar incentives in Tennessee?
Incentive data from the DSIRE (Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency); state solar economics from NREL and the U.S. EIA. See our methodology.