State solar profile · #51 of 51
Solar in Alaska: slow payback · modest sun
Alaska's 17-yr modeled payback (#43 of 51) is on the slow side of the corpus; rates (22.5¢/kWh) and 2 programs decide whether sun (3.4 kWh/m²/day) still pays.
- 3.4
- kWh/m²/day irradiance
- 22.5¢
- avg electricity rate
- 17 yr
- payback (#43)
- 2
- incentive programs
Form 860 capacity strip
Nameplate AK · Alaska score #51/51
Alaska | 10/100 | 17 yr payback | 8 MW
- RATE 10/100
- PAY #51/51
- CAP 3.4 kWh
- PROG 22.5c/kWh
- NEM 17 yr
- PHOTO 8 MW
- BOOK 2 programs
- VS-AVG near Washington
Stamps derive from this state's NREL irradiance, EIA Form 860 / Electric Power Monthly nameplate, and DSIRE incentive row (score, rank, sun, rate, payback, capacity, programs, peer), not a quote or site assessment. Modeled figures use a typical 6 kW system; your roof, shading, and utility tariff decide the real return. See our disclaimer. Verify with EIA Form 860 → · Read with methodology → · Net-metering guide → · Personalized estimate → · All state rows → · States ranked → · Payback vs U.S. avg (14.2 yr): 2.8 yr slower
Modeled 6 kW payback · Alaska and nearest peers
Shorter bars = faster simple payback on the NREL/EIA model
- IA
Iowa
17 years
- TN
Tennessee
17 years
- OR
Oregon
17 years
- AK
Alaska
17 years
- SD
South Dakota
17 years
- AR
Arkansas
17 years
What this shows Alaska sits at 17 years among nearest payback peers (2.8 yr slower vs the 14.2-yr U.S. average).
Slow-band 25-year ROI · Alaska
$22,800
system cost
$1,340/yr
modeled savings
17 yr
break-even
+$10,700
25-year net
Slow-band math: $22,800 in vs $1,340/yr out. Check net-metering (full) and program stack before treating the 25-year net as settled. Run a personalized estimate →
Where Alaska sits on sun vs. payback nationally
Irradiance 3.4 kWh/m²/day (below the 4.8 national mean) vs 17-yr payback (slow band vs 14.2-yr mean). Crosshairs mark those means.
Alaska sits on the slow side of the national spread
Alaska's 17-yr modeled break-even trails 84% of the 51 tracked states.
Alaska's spot in the national payback spread
2-year payback bands across the full 50-state-plus-DC model.
17 Slower than most slower than 82% of 51 states
all tracked states, bucketed by value
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more states. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source PlainSolarData model, NREL irradiance + EIA rates · 2024
Solar & grid details
- Net-metering policy
- full
- Renewable portfolio standard
- None
- Installed cost / watt
- $3.80/W
- Annual production (6 kW)
- 5,957 kWh
- Installed capacity (EIA 2024)
- 8 MW
- Notable programs
- Alaska Renewable Energy Fund
Top incentive programs
2 tracked programs for Alaska residents
Partial program list. PlainSolarData's list for Alaska is short or incomplete (no net-metering entry although its net metering is classed full). Other programs may exist; check DSIRE and your utility. The solar score's incentive component counts the programs tracked here, so this state's score may understate its incentives.
All Alaska solar incentives (2)
More slower-payback peers near Alaska
Two non-geographic peer sets for Alaska: composite score neighbors and payback-year neighbors (deduped so each row links a distinct comparison).
States near this composite solar score
Nearest nationwide matches on the NREL/EIA/DSIRE blend (10/100 here).
- Washington · score 14/100
- Indiana · score 17/100
- Michigan · score 18/100
- Ohio · score 18/100
Closest match: modeled payback
Nearest payback-year peers nationwide (17 yr modeled here).
- Oregon · 16.9 yr payback
- South Dakota · 17.1 yr payback
- Arkansas · 17.2 yr payback
- Iowa · 16.7 yr payback
Peers are nearest-neighbor matches on published composite scores and modeled 6 kW payback years; rankings above use the same fields but sort the full corpus.
Solar resource from NREL; electricity rates and installed capacity from the U.S. EIA; incentive programs from DSIRE. See our methodology.