There can be solar tax credits and incentives available at the federal, state and local levels. The calculator above will show you the value of all incentives your home is eligible for.
There are two huge factors working to boost home solar in Rhode Island: the state's Small-Scale Solar grant program and the Renewable Energy Growth Program. Combined, they mean you'll save thousands up front on a new solar system and can sell the electricity it produces for thousands more.
Solar is cheaper than ever, so the Rhode Island incentives combined with the Federal 26% tax credit for solar means a solar panel system pays itself back quickly and makes you lots of money over its 25-year warrantied life!
Learn what solar incentives are available to Rhode Island homeowners
See what Rhode Island solar incentives you qualify for based on your utility company and city
Find out how much these incentives and/or Rhode Island solar tax credits will reduce your cost to go solar and add batteries
The federal solar investment tax credit will have the biggest impact on the cost you will face to go solar in Rhode Island
If you install your photovoltaic system before the end of 2032, the federal tax credit is 30% of the cost of your solar panel system. This is 30% off the entire cost of the system including equipment, labor, and permitting.
Example: If your solar energy system costs $20,000, your federal solar tax credit would be $20,000 x 30% = $6,000.
The federal tax credit falls to 26% starting in 2033.
With net metering in some states, you get full retail rate credit for the amount of electricity you send back into the grid with your solar panels.
Net Metering requires your utility to monitor how much energy your solar power system produces and how much energy you actually consume, and make sure you get credit for the surplus.
Rhode Island has a strong net metering program that ensures you get credit for your surplus energy production -- up to 125% of your monthly consumption. Surplus is credited to you at the utilities avoided-cost rate, and may be either carried forward to the next bill or purchased by the utility, at their discretion.
After 2016, the legislature doubled the net metering limit to 10 Megawatts of total generation capacity, and also added net metering for 3rd-party-owned systems.
That’s a pretty solid law overall, but there are definitely some easy tweaks the legislature could implement to make net metering even stronger. For one, municipal and cooperative electric companies are currently exempt from the statewide net metering standards. The law should be expanded to cover all utilities.
We’d also like to see the option for bill rollovers or cash payments moved from the utility to you, so you can decide how the savings help you most.
While Rhode Island does not have a dedicated state rebate for solar panel installation, some manufacturers like LG offer their own solar rebates. These programs are usually time sensitive. For example, LG offers a $600 solar rebate on their equipment, which your installer can help you redeem over the next year.
National Grid’s Renewable Energy Growth program in Rhode Island provides an awesome incentive to go solar. You get a performance based incentive (PBI) payment which is reflected both as a credit to your monthly electric bill and as a cash payment every month.
For 2021, you can expect the PBI to be at $.25- $.29 cents per kilowatt-hour (kwh). The PBI gets split between a credit to your existing electric bill and that cash payment. Since an average 6-kW home solar system generates about 10,000 kwh annually, you can expect bill credits and payments of $2,500 annually for a term length of 15-20 years! Even though the cash portion of the PBI is taxable income (meaning you’ll get an IRS 1099 form), this program is a huge boon to you for installing solar.
Rhode Island policymakers also created a fund for those who may not be sure if they’re going to live in their homes for the next 20 years to go solar as well. If you decide not to participate in the PBI above, you can elect to take a solar grant from the Rhode Island Renewable Energy Fund instead.
For 2021, the grant amount is up to $850 per kilowatt of installed solar, up to a maximum of $7,000. On an average 6-kW system, that amounts to $5,100 upfront! This solar grant program is among the best in the nation. Way to go, Rhode Island!
Thankfully there are tax exemptions for solar power here as well. When you install a solar power system, your home goes up in value by a factor of 20 times your electricity bill savings. No one should ever be penalized for converting to renewable energy, a sentiment with which the Rhode Island legislature agrees.
That’s why they passed a property tax law ensuring that your solar power system will never be assessed at any higher value than the equivalent standard, non-renewable energy production system. That means all that increase in value you get from a solar power system over a conventional system stays with you and not with the state tax collectors.
Those shiny new solar panels are also 100% exempt from all sales and use taxes when you purchase and install them.
Showing data for:
Prices based on a 8.0kW system, after 30% federal tax credit
16 solar companies in Rhode Island provide pricing on SolarReviews. Here are the best rated companies near you.
4.90 84 Reviews
Brent , 13 hours ago
Chris and the Sunergy team were by far the best set of contractors that we have dealt with with our home renovations. Chris went above and beyond to answer our questions even on his off hours. And the installers left the job site clean when they were done. It was like they weren’t even there.
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Brent , 13 hours ago
Chris and the Sunergy team were by far the best set of contractors that we have dealt with with our home renovations. Chris went above and beyond to answer our questions even on his off hours. And the installers left the job site clean when they were done. It was like they weren’t even there.
4.79 55 Reviews
JaneMatt, 6 days ago
We initially worked with Artie to evaluate our house, usage, and what the best system for us would be. Alex took over to coordinate the installation. Both were knowledgeable, available to answer any questions we had, and very professional. All installers in the process, from roof inspection through electrical hook-ups to the panel (and critter guard) installation, were competent, thorough, and nice to work with. NEC checks the operation of the system for the lifetime of the equipment. We got several bids and the NEC price was competitive and offered more in terms of quality, warranty, and extras.
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JaneMatt, 6 days ago
We initially worked with Artie to evaluate our house, usage, and what the best system for us would be. Alex took over to coordinate the installation. Both were knowledgeable, available to answer any questions we had, and very professional. All installers in the process, from roof inspection through electrical hook-ups to the panel (and critter guard) installation, were competent, thorough, and nice to work with. NEC checks the operation of the system for the lifetime of the equipment. We got several bids and the NEC price was competitive and offered more in terms of quality, warranty, and extras.
4.74 300 Reviews
Phil, over 1 month
I can't tell you how amazing it has been to work with Jessica! She has been a ROCKSTAR in helping to resolve an issue with my system not auto reporting after the meter was swapped out by a 4G one! I didn't purchase my system originally through NECE (that installer neglected to mentions until after holes were drilled into my brand new roof that I'd need to spend another $7K on tree removal that was never used in their ROI calculations nor mentioned during the entire process). But based on my interactions with Jessica and the tech who did his best to assist, I wish I'd used NECE for my original installation! What a pleasure it's been to work with smart, competent, service-oriented solar professionals!
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Average cost (5kW system)
$21,450 ($4.29 per watt)
Phil, over 1 month
I can't tell you how amazing it has been to work with Jessica! She has been a ROCKSTAR in helping to resolve an issue with my system not auto reporting after the meter was swapped out by a 4G one! I didn't purchase my system originally through NECE (that installer neglected to mentions until after holes were drilled into my brand new roof that I'd need to spend another $7K on tree removal that was never used in their ROI calculations nor mentioned during the entire process). But based on my interactions with Jessica and the tech who did his best to assist, I wish I'd used NECE for my original installation! What a pleasure it's been to work with smart, competent, service-oriented solar professionals!
4.72 491 Reviews
Jon, 9 hours ago
Excellent installation team. I believe their name is muffin men?
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Jon, 9 hours ago
Excellent installation team. I believe their name is muffin men?
4.67 91 Reviews
Tom, 6 days ago
Very skeptical at first probably like everyone else. The sales team with Dylan, answered all my questions from the actual solar panels and equipment to the service and warranty I would expect. He was outstanding knowledgeable and readily available for my many calls. As for the team the electricians Ray and Jarret went the extra mile for panel placement, conduit hidden very well wiring in the attic on a hot day. Both extremely knowledgeable for many more questions. The roofers Jason and Juan were neat did a fantastic job and I am pleased with the appearance. 6 hours installed perfectly. Unfortunately the slowest process waiting for RI Energy to change out my meter. I would highly recommend RTP over anyone else. They truly are a team.
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Tom, 6 days ago
Very skeptical at first probably like everyone else. The sales team with Dylan, answered all my questions from the actual solar panels and equipment to the service and warranty I would expect. He was outstanding knowledgeable and readily available for my many calls. As for the team the electricians Ray and Jarret went the extra mile for panel placement, conduit hidden very well wiring in the attic on a hot day. Both extremely knowledgeable for many more questions. The roofers Jason and Juan were neat did a fantastic job and I am pleased with the appearance. 6 hours installed perfectly. Unfortunately the slowest process waiting for RI Energy to change out my meter. I would highly recommend RTP over anyone else. They truly are a team.
4.48 24 Reviews
Evan K, 2 weeks ago
I can’t recommend Premier Improvements as a positive solar experience. They started out promising. Brian was very approachable and eager to work with us. We had specific needs that he was willing to accommodate, and the price and financing were excellent. However, at no point would I consider them to be timely, and it has only gotten worse once the financing cleared and the panels were installed, which is only about half of the project. We initially signed paperwork in May/June of 2022. We were told there was several months backlog and we probably wouldn’t get the panels installed until September. Annoying, but understandable. This slowly pushed back into December, and finally early January for the installation date. Brian was responsive and available up until this point. Once our panels were installed and Premier was paid, I stopped receiving nearly as attentive service. At this point, we still needed to have a trench filled in, have the system inspected, and have it cleared with Eversource. We didn’t even have the system inspected until late February. I would get about one check in a week from Premier. We had a further complication with Eversource. Due to some paperwork that was improperly filed (that Premier did actually correct – Eversource’s error in the long run), Eversource did not turn the panels on until early June. At this point I thought we were done. However, June was a very smokey and rainy month so it wasn’t until early July 2023 that I realized there was a problem and the panels were not performing optimally. I alerted Premier immediately, who denied this problem for 10 days before confirming that it was real and that one of my inverters was only operating at half capacity. It took another 2-3 weeks just to get an electrician out to look at them, where they told me it was a system update that was needed and that the panels were fixed. The next sunny day, it was obvious to me that they were not fixed, and I was told “we are working on it” and have heard nothing back for a week. At this point I have been only generating about 75% of the power my system is capable of, for two months. It is now August 2023, well over a year after I started this process, and I still have not gotten the system or performance that we were promised. I’ve been told that the Premier Protection Plan will somehow cover me through all this mess, but no one has yet explained to me how this will actually work or what the plan is. I’ve tried to remain optimistic through all this, the people at the company are genuinely nice and appear to be trying to help me, but the pace of getting anything done is just not worth it.
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Evan K, 2 weeks ago
I can’t recommend Premier Improvements as a positive solar experience. They started out promising. Brian was very approachable and eager to work with us. We had specific needs that he was willing to accommodate, and the price and financing were excellent. However, at no point would I consider them to be timely, and it has only gotten worse once the financing cleared and the panels were installed, which is only about half of the project. We initially signed paperwork in May/June of 2022. We were told there was several months backlog and we probably wouldn’t get the panels installed until September. Annoying, but understandable. This slowly pushed back into December, and finally early January for the installation date. Brian was responsive and available up until this point. Once our panels were installed and Premier was paid, I stopped receiving nearly as attentive service. At this point, we still needed to have a trench filled in, have the system inspected, and have it cleared with Eversource. We didn’t even have the system inspected until late February. I would get about one check in a week from Premier. We had a further complication with Eversource. Due to some paperwork that was improperly filed (that Premier did actually correct – Eversource’s error in the long run), Eversource did not turn the panels on until early June. At this point I thought we were done. However, June was a very smokey and rainy month so it wasn’t until early July 2023 that I realized there was a problem and the panels were not performing optimally. I alerted Premier immediately, who denied this problem for 10 days before confirming that it was real and that one of my inverters was only operating at half capacity. It took another 2-3 weeks just to get an electrician out to look at them, where they told me it was a system update that was needed and that the panels were fixed. The next sunny day, it was obvious to me that they were not fixed, and I was told “we are working on it” and have heard nothing back for a week. At this point I have been only generating about 75% of the power my system is capable of, for two months. It is now August 2023, well over a year after I started this process, and I still have not gotten the system or performance that we were promised. I’ve been told that the Premier Protection Plan will somehow cover me through all this mess, but no one has yet explained to me how this will actually work or what the plan is. I’ve tried to remain optimistic through all this, the people at the company are genuinely nice and appear to be trying to help me, but the pace of getting anything done is just not worth it.
4.17 7 Reviews
Karlo Berger, over 1 month
I highly recommend Sol Power. Every step of the way, they were professional, above-board, and efficient in their planning, installation, and wrap-up process. We even got the installation finalized through the pandemic! Plus they are cooperative, which keeps the money in the community.
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Karlo Berger, over 1 month
I highly recommend Sol Power. Every step of the way, they were professional, above-board, and efficient in their planning, installation, and wrap-up process. We even got the installation finalized through the pandemic! Plus they are cooperative, which keeps the money in the community.
4.08 141 Reviews
Brian Bernard, over 1 month
The sales process was great. They were very attentive and offered the best deal on the best equipment. Then.. After signing the deal, they stopped returning e-mails and phone calls. It took them 6 months to get the materials delivered. Then it took 2 weeks before installation started. And the meter was installed incorrectly. They corrected that quickly as I was still holding the final 10% progress payment and their sales team was back to calling and e-mailing every other day. 4 years in, one of the micro-invertors stopped working. For 4 weeks, no one at RGS responded to my calls; e-mails; or web-chats. I initiated the replacement part request with the manufacturer and the next day RGS e-mailed me back to say a replacement part had been ordered and should be arriving in 2-4 weeks. I got the part in 4 weeks, notified RGS, and, again, they went silent on me. 4 weeks after that, I got an e-mail from RGS with a workorder stating that I would have to pay $350 plus additional costs for them to complete the work under warranty. That is where we stand now. If I had to do it again, I would go with a company that had positive reviews after the sales process. That is when you are going to need them they most. Good luck with your solar projects.
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Average cost (5kW system)
$23,400 ($4.68 per watt)
Brian Bernard, over 1 month
The sales process was great. They were very attentive and offered the best deal on the best equipment. Then.. After signing the deal, they stopped returning e-mails and phone calls. It took them 6 months to get the materials delivered. Then it took 2 weeks before installation started. And the meter was installed incorrectly. They corrected that quickly as I was still holding the final 10% progress payment and their sales team was back to calling and e-mailing every other day. 4 years in, one of the micro-invertors stopped working. For 4 weeks, no one at RGS responded to my calls; e-mails; or web-chats. I initiated the replacement part request with the manufacturer and the next day RGS e-mailed me back to say a replacement part had been ordered and should be arriving in 2-4 weeks. I got the part in 4 weeks, notified RGS, and, again, they went silent on me. 4 weeks after that, I got an e-mail from RGS with a workorder stating that I would have to pay $350 plus additional costs for them to complete the work under warranty. That is where we stand now. If I had to do it again, I would go with a company that had positive reviews after the sales process. That is when you are going to need them they most. Good luck with your solar projects.
Jack Breen, over 1 month
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4.06 4 Reviews
Anonymous, over 1 month
After comparing prices with other companies SunWatt had the most value without any inflated system performance predictions. Every part of the system, the incentives and the return on cost was carefully explained during the sale. Fast, professional installation. Excellent performance of the system. Happy to be helping the environment and lowering my energy costs.
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Anonymous, over 1 month
After comparing prices with other companies SunWatt had the most value without any inflated system performance predictions. Every part of the system, the incentives and the return on cost was carefully explained during the sale. Fast, professional installation. Excellent performance of the system. Happy to be helping the environment and lowering my energy costs.
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