State solar profile · #37 of 51
Solar in Oregon: slow payback · modest sun
Oregon's 16.9-yr modeled payback (#42 of 51) is on the slow side of the corpus; rates (12.8¢/kWh) and 3 programs decide whether sun (4.5 kWh/m²/day) still pays.
- 4.5
- kWh/m²/day irradiance
- 12.8¢
- avg electricity rate
- 16.9 yr
- payback (#42)
- 3
- incentive programs
EIA nameplate inventory
Nameplate OR · Oregon score #37/51
Oregon | 24/100 | 16.9 yr payback | 1.1 GW
- FORM860 24/100
- MW #37/51
- SCORE 4.5 kWh
- RANK 12.8c/kWh
- SUN 16.9 yr
- RATE 1.1 GW
- PAY 3 programs
- CAP 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): 2.7 yr slower
Modeled 6 kW payback · Oregon 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 Oregon sits at 16.9 years among nearest payback peers (2.7 yr slower vs the 14.2-yr U.S. average).
Slow-band 25-year ROI · Oregon
$17,100
system cost
$1,009/yr
modeled savings
16.9 yr
break-even
+$8,125
25-year net
Slow-band math: $17,100 in vs $1,009/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 Oregon, 2011–2024
Total solar nameplate capacity in Oregon reported to the EIA, utility-scale and reported distributed systems. The number of reporting facilities grew 66x (2 to 132) between 2011 and 2024, and the average site size grew from 1 MW to 8 MW per site, a shift toward larger utility-scale installations.
Oregon's national sun-vs-payback seat
Irradiance 4.5 kWh/m²/day (below the 4.8 national mean) vs 16.9-yr payback (slow band vs 14.2-yr mean). Crosshairs mark those means.
Solar & grid details
- Net-metering policy
- full
- Renewable portfolio standard
- Mandatory (50% by 2040)
- Installed cost / watt
- $2.85/W
- Annual production (6 kW)
- 7,884 kWh
- Installed capacity (EIA 2024)
- 1.1 GW
- Notable programs
- Oregon Solar + Storage Rebate Program
Top incentive programs
3 programs available for Oregon residents
All Oregon solar incentives (3)
OR Residential Solar Property Tax Exemption
Full property tax exemption
Oregon provides a full property tax exemption for residential solar systems.
Net meteringOR Net Metering
Retail rate credit
Oregon utilities provide net metering at retail rates for systems up to 25 kW.
RebateOregon Solar + Storage Rebate
Up to $2,500 (solar) + $2,500 (storage)
Oregon ODOE provides rebates for residential solar and battery storage systems.
Slower-payback neighbors for Oregon
Two non-geographic peer sets for Oregon: 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 (24/100 here).
Similar modeled payback
Nearest payback-year peers nationwide (16.9 yr modeled here).
- Alaska · 17 yr payback
- Iowa · 16.7 yr payback
- Tennessee · 16.7 yr payback
- South Dakota · 17.1 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.