State solar profile · #31 of 51
Solar in Tennessee: slow payback despite sun
Tennessee's 16.7-yr modeled payback (#40 of 51) is on the slow side of the corpus; rates (11.5¢/kWh) and 2 programs decide whether sun (4.9 kWh/m²/day) still pays.
- 4.9
- kWh/m²/day irradiance
- 11.5¢
- avg electricity rate
- 16.7 yr
- payback (#40)
- 2
- incentive programs
EIA Form 860 nameplate strip
Nameplate TN · Tennessee score #31/51
Tennessee | 25/100 | 16.7 yr payback | 594 MW
- SUN 25/100
- RATE #31/51
- PAY 4.9 kWh
- CAP 11.5c/kWh
- PROG 16.7 yr
- NEM 594 MW
- PHOTO 2 programs
- BOOK 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 → · ROI calculator guide → · Personalized estimate → · All state rows → · States ranked → · Payback vs U.S. avg (14.2 yr): 2.5 yr slower
Modeled 6 kW payback · Tennessee and nearest peers
Shorter bars = faster simple payback on the NREL/EIA model
- MT
Montana
16 years
- NE
Nebraska
16 years
- TN
Tennessee
17 years
- IA
Iowa
17 years
- OR
Oregon
17 years
- AK
Alaska
17 years
What this shows Tennessee sits at 16.7 years among nearest payback peers (2.5 yr slower vs the 14.2-yr U.S. average).
Slow-band 25-year ROI · Tennessee
$16,500
system cost
$987/yr
modeled savings
16.7 yr
break-even
+$8,175
25-year net
Slow-band math: $16,500 in vs $987/yr out. Check net-metering (partial) and program stack before treating the 25-year net as settled. Run a personalized estimate →
Installed solar capacity in Tennessee, 2012–2024
Total solar nameplate capacity in Tennessee reported to the EIA, utility-scale and reported distributed systems. The number of reporting facilities grew 10.7x (3 to 32) between 2012 and 2024, and the average site size grew from 5 MW to 19 MW per site, a shift toward larger utility-scale installations.
Tennessee: sunny but slow to break even
Irradiance 4.9 kWh/m²/day (at/above the 4.8 national mean) vs 16.7-yr payback (slow band vs 14.2-yr mean). Crosshairs mark those means.
Tennessee's payback trails most of the country
Tennessee's 16.7-yr modeled break-even trails 80% of the 51 tracked states.
Tennessee'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 76% 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
- partial
- Renewable portfolio standard
- None
- Installed cost / watt
- $2.75/W
- Annual production (6 kW)
- 8,585 kWh
- Installed capacity (EIA 2024)
- 594 MW
Top incentive programs
2 tracked programs for Tennessee residents
Partial program list. PlainSolarData's list for Tennessee is short or incomplete (no net-metering entry although its net metering is classed partial). 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 Tennessee solar incentives (2)
TN Solar Property Tax Exemption
Property tax exemption
Tennessee solar energy systems may be exempt from local property taxes.
Performance incentiveTVA Green Power Providers Program (TN)
Premium payment per kWh
TVA pays a premium for customer-generated renewable energy exported to the grid.
Slower-payback neighbors for Tennessee
Two non-geographic peer sets for Tennessee: 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 (25/100 here).
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.