State solar profile · #48 of 51
Solar in West Virginia: slow payback · modest sun
West Virginia's 19.4-yr modeled payback (#49 of 51) is on the slow side of the corpus; rates (12¢/kWh) and 2 programs decide whether sun (4.2 kWh/m²/day) still pays.
- 4.2
- kWh/m²/day irradiance
- 12¢
- avg electricity rate
- 19.4 yr
- payback (#49)
- 2
- incentive programs
EIA Form 860 nameplate strip
Nameplate WV · West Virginia score #48/51
West Virginia | 18/100 | 19.4 yr payback | 140 MW
- STRIP 18/100
- FORM860 #48/51
- MW 4.2 kWh
- SCORE 12c/kWh
- RANK 19.4 yr
- SUN 140 MW
- RATE 2 programs
- PAY near Michigan
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): 5.2 yr slower
Modeled 6 kW payback · West Virginia and nearest peers
Shorter bars = faster simple payback on the NREL/EIA model
- AR
Arkansas
17 years
- KY
Kentucky
18 years
- LA
Louisiana
18 years
- ND
North Dakota
18 years
- WV
West Virginia
19 years
- ID
Idaho
20 years
What this shows West Virginia sits at 19.4 years among nearest payback peers (5.2 yr slower vs the 14.2-yr U.S. average).
Slow-band 25-year ROI · West Virginia
$17,100
system cost
$883/yr
modeled savings
19.4 yr
break-even
+$4,975
25-year net
Slow-band math: $17,100 in vs $883/yr out. Check net-metering (none) and program stack before treating the 25-year net as settled. Run a personalized estimate →
Where West Virginia sits on sun vs. payback nationally
Irradiance 4.2 kWh/m²/day (below the 4.8 national mean) vs 19.4-yr payback (slow band vs 14.2-yr mean). Crosshairs mark those means.
West Virginia sits on the slow side of the national spread
West Virginia's 19.4-yr modeled break-even trails 96% of the 51 tracked states.
West Virginia's spot in the national payback spread
2-year payback bands across the full 50-state-plus-DC model.
19 Slower than most slower than 94% 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
- none
- Renewable portfolio standard
- Mandatory (30% by 2030)
- Installed cost / watt
- $2.85/W
- Annual production (6 kW)
- 7,358 kWh
- Installed capacity (EIA 2024)
- 140 MW
Top incentive programs
2 programs available for West Virginia residents
All West Virginia solar incentives (2)
West Virginia's fellow slower-payback states
Two non-geographic peer sets for West Virginia: composite score neighbors and payback-year neighbors (deduped so each row links a distinct comparison).
States near this composite solar score
Nearest nationwide matches on the NREL/EIA/DSIRE blend (18/100 here).
Closest match: modeled payback
Nearest payback-year peers nationwide (19.4 yr modeled here).
- North Dakota · 18.2 yr payback
- Louisiana · 17.8 yr payback
- Kentucky · 17.7 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.