State guide · facts checked July 2026
Arizona has the best sun in the country and some of the most confusing solar billing in the country. None of the three big utilities pays retail for your exports, each one works differently, and the state Attorney General has active enforcement against solar sales practices, including a $1.25 million settlement with Sunrun and Vivint in 2025.
Here is the honest picture as of July 2026, with sources at the bottom.
The price
Competitive quotes in Arizona average about $2.29 per watt before incentives (EnergySage marketplace data, July 2026), among the cheapest in the country thanks to easy roofs and lots of competition.
Door-to-door and finance-loaded quotes routinely run past $3.50 per watt for the same hardware. Above $2.80, get more quotes before signing.
Check your quote against this, freeExports
Arizona ended retail net metering in 2017. What you get for exported power depends on your utility, and the differences change the whole design:
APS: exports earn the RCP rate, currently 6.17 cents per kWh (through August 2026), locked for 10 years from your interconnection application. The rate steps down up to 10% each September for new customers, so the step-down is real but slow, about half a cent a year. One recent win: the extra "grid access charge" APS put on solar homes was struck down by the Arizona Court of Appeals in June 2026.
TEP (Tucson): same structure, currently 5.13 cents per kWh, with roughly 4.6 cents pending for late 2026. Note TEP's own website has shown a stale higher rate; the tariff sheet is the truth.
SRP (much of metro Phoenix): a different animal entirely. New solar customers choose between a demand-charge plan (E-16) and a no-demand plan with a punishing 40-cent summer evening peak rate (E-28), with exports paying only about 3.45 cents per kWh. Savings on SRP live or die on batteries and load shifting, not on exports. Legacy SRP solar plans end in November 2029, and a grandfathered plan does not transfer when a home sells.
Incentives
Ended December 31, 2025 under the July 2025 federal law. A purchase completed in 2026 gets $0 federal credit. Only leasing companies can still claim a federal credit, on their systems, for themselves. Also watch the AG-flagged trick of promising tax credits to retirees with no tax liability; a nonrefundable credit you cannot use is worth nothing.
Real and still active: 25% of system cost, capped at $1,000 lifetime per taxpayer, with a 5-year carryforward (Form 310). Owner-only; leases and PPAs do not qualify. It is nice, and it is $1,000, not a reason to accept a $5,000-too-high price.
Solar adds no assessed value to your property under state law, and solar equipment and installation are exempt from the state 5.6% sales tax (handled by the seller automatically, not a special discount).
Both open as of July 2026, both pilots with 5,000-participant caps. They pay ongoing bill credits for letting the utility dispatch your battery on summer peak events, roughly $110 per kW per season on APS. Worth real money on SRP where batteries carry the economics; confirm enrollment is still open before counting it.
The old SRP upfront battery rebate is no longer offered, and Arizona has no state cash rebate for panels. Quotes counting either are stale.
What they gloss over
What you hear
"Arizona gives you full credit for the power you send back."
What's true
No Arizona utility pays retail for exports. APS pays about 6 cents, TEP about 5, SRP about 3.5, versus retail rates 2 to 3 times higher. Systems here should be sized to what you use, with the battery question answered before the panel count.
What you hear
"You still get the 30% federal tax credit."
What's true
Not on a purchase completed in 2026 or later. It ended December 31, 2025. The state credit is real but capped at $1,000 lifetime.
What you hear
"Your bill goes to zero."
What's true
This exact claim is in the AZ Attorney General's lawsuit against Vision Solar and the $1.25M Sunrun and Vivint settlement. Service charges never go away, SRP customers typically still buy about two thirds of their power from SRP, and demand charges do not care how many panels you have.
What you hear
"Sign tonight to lock in your export rate before it drops."
What's true
The rate locks at your interconnection application, not your sales contract, and the step-down is capped at 10% a year, about half a cent. Arizona also gives you 3 business days to cancel a door-to-door sale, and that right cannot be waived.
What you hear
"I'm with APS" (or SRP, or TEP).
What's true
Utilities do not door-knock to sell solar. Fake utility affiliation is a named allegation in the AG's enforcement actions and its published door-to-door warning. Ask for the claim in writing and check the installer at the AZ Registrar of Contractors.
Your city and utility
Permitting and interconnection are local. We keep a plain-English database of both for Arizona:
Sources
Every claim above was checked against a primary source in July 2026. Policies change; if you spot something stale, trust the source over us and tell us.
Educational guidance for your own research, not financial, tax, or engineering advice. Verify current rates and program status with your utility and a licensed professional before signing anything.