State solar profile · #18 of 51
Solar in North Carolina: mid payback · strong sun
North Carolina sits in the middle of the payback pack at 14.4 yr (#24), so irradiance (5.2 kWh/m²/day) and the 3 tracked programs matter more than ranking alone.
- 5.2
- kWh/m²/day irradiance
- 12.8¢
- avg electricity rate
- 14.4 yr
- payback (#24)
- 3
- incentive programs
EIA Form 860 nameplate strip
Nameplate NC · North Carolina score #18/51
North Carolina | 33/100 | 14.4 yr payback | 6.8 GW
- RATE 33/100
- PAY #18/51
- CAP 5.2 kWh
- PROG 12.8c/kWh
- NEM 14.4 yr
- PHOTO 6.8 GW
- BOOK 3 programs
- VS-AVG near District of Columbia
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): 0.2 yr slower
Modeled 6 kW payback · North Carolina and nearest peers
Shorter bars = faster simple payback on the NREL/EIA model
- MD
Maryland
14 years
- NC
North Carolina
14 years
- AL
Alabama
14 years
- MI
Michigan
14 years
- GA
Georgia
15 years
- UT
Utah
15 years
What this shows North Carolina sits at 14.4 years among nearest payback peers (0.2 yr slower vs the 14.2-yr U.S. average).
Mid-pack 25-year ROI · North Carolina
$16,800
system cost
$1,166/yr
modeled savings
14.4 yr
break-even
+$12,350
25-year net
Mid-band math for North Carolina: $16,800 system cost vs $1,166/yr savings. Incentive stacking usually decides the edge case. Run a personalized estimate →
Installed solar capacity in North Carolina, 2008–2024
Total solar nameplate capacity in North Carolina reported to the EIA, utility-scale and reported distributed systems. The number of reporting facilities grew 254.3x (3 to 763) between 2008 and 2024, and the average site size grew from 1 MW to 9 MW per site, a shift toward larger utility-scale installations.
North Carolina's national sun-vs-payback seat
Irradiance 5.2 kWh/m²/day (at/above the 4.8 national mean) vs 14.4-yr payback (mid band vs 14.2-yr mean). Crosshairs mark those means.
Solar & grid details
- Net-metering policy
- full
- Renewable portfolio standard
- Mandatory (12.5% by 2021)
- Installed cost / watt
- $2.80/W
- Annual production (6 kW)
- 9,110 kWh
- Installed capacity (EIA 2024)
- 6.8 GW
- Notable programs
- Duke Energy NC Solar Rebate
Top incentive programs
3 programs available for North Carolina residents
All North Carolina solar incentives (3)
NC Renewable Energy Property Tax Exclusion
80% appraised value exclusion
Solar systems are assessed at 80% below appraised value for property tax purposes.
Net meteringNC Net Metering
Retail rate credit
North Carolina provides net metering at full retail rates for systems up to 1 MW.
RebateDuke Energy NC Solar Rebate
$0.10/W installed, max $600
Duke Energy Carolinas and Progress offer residential solar rebates.
Score and payback neighbors for North Carolina
Two non-geographic peer sets for North Carolina: composite score neighbors and payback-year neighbors (deduped so each row links a distinct comparison).
Similar composite solar score
Nearest nationwide matches on the NREL/EIA/DSIRE blend (33/100 here).
- District of Columbia · score 32/100
- Kansas · score 32/100
- New Hampshire · score 34/100
- New Jersey · score 34/100
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.