State solar profile · #13 of 51
Solar in Rhode Island: fast payback · high rates
Rhode Island clears a modeled 9.7-yr break-even (#6 of 51) at 26¢/kWh and 4.2 kWh/m²/day, with 3 DSIRE programs in the stack.
- 4.2
- kWh/m²/day irradiance
- 26¢
- avg electricity rate
- 9.7 yr
- payback (#6)
- 3
- incentive programs
EIA nameplate inventory
Nameplate RI · Rhode Island score #13/51
Rhode Island | 37/100 | 9.7 yr payback | 419 MW
- SUN 37/100
- RATE #13/51
- PAY 4.2 kWh
- CAP 26c/kWh
- PROG 9.7 yr
- NEM 419 MW
- PHOTO 3 programs
- BOOK near Maine
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): 4.5 yr faster
Modeled 6 kW payback · Rhode Island and nearest peers
Shorter bars = faster simple payback on the NREL/EIA model
- MA
Massachusetts
9 years
- ME
Maine
9 years
- RI
Rhode Island
10 years
- NH
New Hampshire
10 years
- AZ
Arizona
10 years
- NM
New Mexico
10 years
What this shows Rhode Island sits at 9.7 years among nearest payback peers (4.5 yr faster vs the 14.2-yr U.S. average).
Fast-band 25-year ROI · Rhode Island
$18,600
system cost
$1,913/yr
modeled savings
9.7 yr
break-even
+$29,225
25-year net
At $18,600 and $1,913/yr, Rhode Island is already in the faster third of modeled paybacks. Roof, shading, and tariff still move the real number. Run a personalized estimate →
Installed solar capacity in Rhode Island, 2013–2024
Total solar nameplate capacity in Rhode Island reported to the EIA, utility-scale and reported distributed systems. The number of reporting facilities grew 23x (3 to 69) between 2013 and 2024, and the average site size grew from 2 MW to 6 MW per site, a shift toward larger utility-scale installations.
Rhode Island: modest sun, still fast payback
Irradiance 4.2 kWh/m²/day (below the 4.8 national mean) vs 9.7-yr payback (fast band vs 14.2-yr mean). Crosshairs mark those means.
Solar & grid details
- Net-metering policy
- full
- Renewable portfolio standard
- Mandatory (100% by 2033)
- Installed cost / watt
- $3.10/W
- Annual production (6 kW)
- 7,358 kWh
- Installed capacity (EIA 2024)
- 419 MW
- Notable programs
- Renewable Energy Growth (REG) Program
Top incentive programs
3 programs available for Rhode Island residents
All Rhode Island solar incentives (3)
RI Solar Property Tax Exemption
Full property tax exemption
Rhode Island exempts solar energy systems from local property taxes.
Net meteringRI Net Metering
Retail rate credit
Rhode Island provides full retail net metering for systems up to 25 kW.
Performance incentiveRI Renewable Energy Growth (REG) Program
$0.16-$0.18/kWh for 15 years
National Grid customers earn long-term production payments through the REG program.
Other fast-payback peers for Rhode Island
Two non-geographic peer sets for Rhode Island: 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 (37/100 here).
- Maine · score 36/100
- New York · score 38/100
- New Hampshire · score 34/100
- New Jersey · score 34/100
Similar modeled payback
Nearest payback-year peers nationwide (9.7 yr modeled here).
- Massachusetts · 9.2 yr payback
- Arizona · 10.3 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.