Home Solar in Nevada:

Nevada Solar

Nevada is one of the sunniest places in the United States and boasts over 61,000 solar system installations across the state. Much of Nevada is desert. It is home to the city of Las Vegas, where 75% of its inhabitants live. Nevada state government policies provide almost no solar tax incentives. Despite relatively low energy prices and only moderately encouraging utility policies, the sheer abundance of sun can make Nevada a favorable place for businesses and residents to install solar panels and battery systems.

Let’s learn about some of those incentives, the utility policies associated with interconnection and setup, and special solar financing plans for solar panels and battery systems in Nevada.

Incentive Programs, Tax Credits, and

Solar Rebates in Nevada

Nevada provides no solar energy rebates or incentives that help to reduce the overall cost of solar systems. There is one battery incentive available, and you can still take advantage of the federal investment tax credit. Our EnergyPal Advisors can help you navigate all of the solar incentives available in Nevada and also apply them to the available solar panel offerings.

In summary:

• Nevada Energy offers a $0.08 to $0.19 per watt-hour incentive for solar-battery or battery systems.

Nevada Rebates and Tax Breaks

Here are more details about the incentives available in Nevada:

• Nevada Energy offers a $0.16 to $0.19 per watt-hour incentive for battery system customers on a time-of-use rate plan and a $0.08 to $0.095 per watt-hour incentive for battery customers on other rate plans. The maximum payment is $3,000 for time-of-use rate customers and $1,500 for other customers, or half of the cost of the battery, whichever is less.

Other Solar Energy Incentives

The US federal government helps residents and businesses pay for their solar systems. The federal investment tax credit (ITC) allows for a tax deduction of 30% of the cost of a solar system currently. Tax credits can be rolled over if you can’t use the whole credit this year. The ITC cannot be claimed for solar leases or power purchase agreements (PPAs) where the third party financier takes the credits themselves, but that is typically baked into a reduced lease/PPA monthly for you.

If you purchased a $20,000 system, your savings from the federal tax credit would look like this:

$20,000 X 0.30 = $6,000 savings

If you spent $20,000 on that system, your cost would go down to $14,000.

Utility Policies

Utility policy factors determine what your utility provider pays you for the excess power you produce and what you save on your power bill by reducing electricity usage. Nevada gets a medium to low score for utility policies.

Net Metering and Interconnection Policy

One important policy for solar customers is called Net Metering. Net Metering is a billing mechanism that allows solar customers to push electricity to the grid for credit that can be used later, like at night when your solar panels aren’t generating power. This incentivizes people to go solar, provides clean energy for others to use and prevents waste. Some states have poorer net metering policies than others, meaning that credits may not be able to be rolled over to the next month or year, or that you don’t earn full watt-for-watt credit for your excess energy.

Nevada’s Net Metering program is reasonable. You are paid 75% of the retail rate, depending on your utility provider. This rate policy remains in effect for 20 years. Credits can be carried over into the next month and sometimes into the next year. You can connect a system up to 25 kW in size. The exact details depend on your electricity provider’s policies.

Solar Setup Fees

You must have a bi-directional meter (necessary for Net Metering). You must pay for any costs associated with meters, system upgrades or interconnection.

Electricity Prices

Electricity prices in Nevada are on the low end. Usually you don’t want high prices, but with solar, the higher the prices, the more you save, and the more economical a solar system becomes.

According to the US Energy Information Administration, the average total cost of electricity in Nevada is $0.116 per kWh for residents. The national average for all states is $0.134 per kWh, ranging from $0.967 to $0.288 per kWh.

Rate Design

Rate designs are comprised of monthly fees and either a flat or tiered rate you pay for electricity. Good rate designs, which save you money when you conserve energy, are tiered and have low fixed monthly fees. Poor rate designs have flat rates and high fixed monthly fees. 

Nevada is below average when it comes to the quality of its electricity bill rate design. It has flat or time-of-use rate programs and high fixed fees (around $13–$32 per month).

You still pay fixed monthly fees when you go solar because you are still tied to the grid. Being tied to the grid is a good thing, because otherwise you might not have power at night or if your system stopped working suddenly. Even if you go off of the grid and rely on a battery source, the high cost of the battery would not outweigh the monthly fee and the savings obtained from a net metering program.

PACE Programs

PACE stands for Property Assessed Clean Energy and is a financing program for solar projects that is tied to the home instead of the homeowner. The PACE program is not available in Nevada.