State solar profile · #33 of 51
Solar in Arkansas: slow payback · modest sun
Arkansas's 17.2-yr modeled payback (#45 of 51) is on the slow side of the corpus; rates (11.4¢/kWh) and 2 programs decide whether sun (4.8 kWh/m²/day) still pays.
- 4.8
- kWh/m²/day irradiance
- 11.4¢
- avg electricity rate
- 17.2 yr
- payback (#45)
- 2
- incentive programs
EIA Form 860 nameplate strip
Nameplate AR · Arkansas score #33/51
Arkansas | 24/100 | 17.2 yr payback | 1.8 GW
- PHOTO 24/100
- BOOK #33/51
- VS-AVG 4.8 kWh
- GW 11.4c/kWh
- IRR 17.2 yr
- STRIP 1.8 GW
- FORM860 2 programs
- MW near Alabama
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): 3 yr slower
Modeled 6 kW payback · Arkansas and nearest peers
Shorter bars = faster simple payback on the NREL/EIA model
- IA
Iowa
17 years
- OR
Oregon
17 years
- AK
Alaska
17 years
- SD
South Dakota
17 years
- AR
Arkansas
17 years
- KY
Kentucky
18 years
What this shows Arkansas sits at 17.2 years among nearest payback peers (3 yr slower vs the 14.2-yr U.S. average).
Slow-band 25-year ROI · Arkansas
$16,500
system cost
$959/yr
modeled savings
17.2 yr
break-even
+$7,475
25-year net
Slow-band math: $16,500 in vs $959/yr out. Check net-metering (full) and program stack before treating the 25-year net as settled. Run a personalized estimate →
Installed solar capacity in Arkansas, 2015–2024
Total solar nameplate capacity in Arkansas reported to the EIA, utility-scale and reported distributed systems. The number of reporting facilities grew 62x (1 to 62) between 2015 and 2024, and the average site size grew from 12 MW to 29 MW per site, a shift toward larger utility-scale installations.
Arkansas's national sun-vs-payback seat
Irradiance 4.8 kWh/m²/day (below the 4.8 national mean) vs 17.2-yr payback (slow band vs 14.2-yr mean). Crosshairs mark those means.
Most states break even faster than Arkansas
Arkansas's 17.2-yr modeled break-even trails 88% of the 51 tracked states.
Arkansas's spot in the national payback spread
Modeled 6 kW simple payback, banded in 2-year steps.
17 Slower than most slower than 86% 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
- Mandatory (15% by 2040)
- Installed cost / watt
- $2.75/W
- Annual production (6 kW)
- 8,410 kWh
- Installed capacity (EIA 2024)
- 1.8 GW
Top incentive programs
2 programs available for Arkansas residents
All Arkansas solar incentives (2)
States alongside Arkansas on slower payback
Two non-geographic peer sets for Arkansas: composite score neighbors and payback-year neighbors (deduped so each row links a distinct comparison).
Closest match: composite solar score
Nearest nationwide matches on the NREL/EIA/DSIRE blend (24/100 here).
- Alabama · score 24/100
- Delaware · score 24/100
- Missouri · score 24/100
- North Dakota · score 24/100
States near this modeled payback
Nearest payback-year peers nationwide (17.2 yr modeled here).
- South Dakota · 17.1 yr payback
- Alaska · 17 yr payback
- Oregon · 16.9 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.