This Number Helps Explain Why Rooftop Solar Is Becoming More Attractive in Many States

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https://insideclimatenews.org/news/19102023/inside-clean-energy-15-cent-rule-residential-solar-adoption-electricity-rates/

By  Dan Gearino, Inside Climate News.

Excerpt: About 5 percent of U.S. households have rooftop solar, a share that may seem like a lot, but it looks low compared to places like Germany (about 20 percent) and Australia (about 30 percent). One of the big reasons that the United States lags some of those other countries is that electricity is unusually cheap here, so it makes less sense on a financial basis for someone to buy rooftop solar. But this is changing. Utilities across the country have been raising their electricity rates by leaps and bounds.... This is fueling demand for rooftop solar, the technology that many utilities view as competition. At what point is a customer’s electricity rate high enough to justify rooftop solar on a financial basis? ...let’s simplify things and I’ll throw out a number: 15 cents. This rate, 15 cents per kilowatt-hour, translates to a monthly bill of about $130 for a household with average electricity consumption. People in the solar business and energy analysts sometimes talk about 15 cents per kilowatt hour as the approximate point at which things change. In states with rates above that level, companies that sell rooftop solar can more easily demonstrate the potential for financial savings to customers....

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