U.S. small-scale solar generation has quadrupled in the last decade

Rooftop solar in the U.S. has grown fast over the past decade. Small-scale solar systems—those under 1 megawatt, like the panels on a house roof—generated about 93,000 gigawatt-hours of electricity last year, up from roughly 18,800 a decade ago. California, Arizona, Texas, and Florida produce the most, thanks to strong sun exposure, but New York cracks the top five even with weaker solar resources, largely because of state incentives and better technology.

Growth has slowed somewhat since 2022, a year when generation jumped 25% nationwide. Much of that spike traces back to California's shift in net metering rules, the program that credits homeowners for power their panels send back to the grid. Under the older NEM 2.0 program, which ran through April 2023, homeowners got paid more for exported electricity than under the newer NEM 3.0 that replaced it. Anyone who installed under NEM 2.0 kept those terms, which pushed many homeowners to install systems before the switch. California still leads the country, producing over a third of all U.S. rooftop solar generation, with capacity rising from 18 to 20 gigawatts in just the last year.

Other states use different tools to encourage rooftop solar. Arizona offers a 25% state income-tax credit. Texas and Florida rely more on property tax exemptions and utility-specific programs. States with less sunshine, including New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Illinois, have built their own incentive programs to make rooftop solar worthwhile despite weaker solar resources. What's available varies widely, so it's worth checking what your own state and utility currently offer.