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Solar Panels in Idaho: Costs, Net Billing, Incentives and What to Buy

Idaho has some of the cheapest electricity in the United States, but prices rose by double digits over the past year, and the state’s largest utility now pays very different amounts for exported solar depending on the season and the time of day. For homeowners, farms and businesses, that makes timing as important as system size. This guide explains Idaho Power’s and Rocky Mountain Power’s export credit rates, the Idaho income tax deduction, the snow and cold your equipment must handle, and how to choose what to buy.

Solar in Idaho at a glance

Metric	What to know	Source/date
Average residential electricity price	13.73¢/kWh in July 2026; 12.96¢ year to date (Jan–Jul 2026), up 12.0% on 2025	EIA Electric Power Monthly, Sept 2026 release
Main utilities	Idaho Power sold about 59% of residential electricity in 2024, Avista about 14% and PacifiCorp (Rocky Mountain Power) about 8%; Idaho Falls Power and Kootenai Electric Cooperative follow	EIA Idaho electricity profile, 2024 data
Export compensation	Real-time net billing with time-of-day export credit rates at Idaho Power and Rocky Mountain Power; older “legacy” systems keep monthly net metering	Idaho Power FAQ, checked Oct 2026
Sun resource	About 5.3 peak sun hours a day on an optimally tilted panel in Boise and Idaho Falls, 4.4 in Coeur d’Alene; about 1,580 and 1,330 kWh per kW per year	Global Solar Atlas, long-term averages, retrieved Oct 2026
State incentives	Alternative energy device income tax deduction (Idaho Code 63-3022C), claimed on Form 39R	Idaho State Tax Commission, Form 39R and instructions, 2025 tax year

Electricity prices and utilities

EIA puts Idaho’s year-to-date residential average at 12.96¢/kWh through July 2026, against 11.57¢ for the same period of 2025 and 18.19¢ for the U.S. Idaho Power serves Boise and most of southern Idaho. Rocky Mountain Power serves much of eastern Idaho, and Avista serves the north. Idaho Falls Power, other municipal utilities and cooperatives such as Kootenai Electric publish their own interconnection and billing rules. Model your savings on your own utility’s tariff, not a national average.

Net metering and selling power back

Idaho Power. Systems approved before the legacy cutoff keep monthly net metering. Non-legacy customers, meaning those who applied after December 20, 2020 (Idaho PUC, Oct 2025), pay the retail rate for everything they take from the grid and earn the export credit rate (ECR) for what they send back. The current ECR is 15.6836¢/kWh for summer on-peak exports, 3.3920¢ for summer off-peak and 2.9019¢ for all non-summer hours. Summer runs from June 1 to September 30, and on-peak means 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. Mountain Standard Time, Monday through Saturday, excluding holidays. Idaho Power says it will keep these rates until its April 1, 2028 filing, and credits do not expire.

Rocky Mountain Power (Idaho). Schedule 136 net billing, effective December 1, 2025, credits on-peak exports at 14.666¢/kWh from June through October and 5.597¢ from November through May. Off-peak exports earn 3.664¢ and 1.228¢. Summer on-peak runs from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Under both utilities, most midday exports earn only a few cents. Panels facing west, batteries that discharge into the evening, and sizing to your own load all improve the return.

Incentives in Idaho

• Idaho income tax deduction. If you install an alternative energy device, including solar that produces electrical power, at your Idaho residence, you can deduct 40% of the cost in the year it is placed in service and 20% in each of the following three years, up to $5,000 a year (Idaho Code 63-3022C). A buyer of a home with an unused balance can take the rest. This is a deduction from taxable income, so its value depends on your tax rate. It is not a fixed refund.
• Batteries on Rocky Mountain Power. Under the Wattsmart Battery program, as changed in Idaho on July 1, 2026, a single residential battery under 10 kW is eligible for a $1,000 upfront incentive.
• Federal credits. The IRS says the 30% residential credit is not available for property placed in service after December 31, 2025. For farm and business projects, IRS Notice 2025-42 requires solar facilities that begin construction after July 4, 2026 to be placed in service by December 31, 2027 to qualify for Section 48E or 45Y. Check with a tax professional.

Climate and what it means for your equipment

• Snow. Ground snow loads vary widely across Idaho’s valleys and mountains. The University of Idaho’s Ground and Roof Snow Loads for Idaho (2015 edition) gives site values and notes that final design loads are the responsibility of the engineer, architect or building official. Match racking spans, attachment spacing and module load ratings to that number, especially in mountain towns and in the north.
• Cold. Clear winter days on the Snake River Plain push panel voltage up. Calculate string voltage at the lowest expected temperature to protect the inverter or charge controller.
• Less sun in the north. Coeur d’Alene produces about 16% less per installed kW than Boise (Global Solar Atlas), so northern systems need more capacity for the same output.
• Hail. Idaho is not among the top ten states for major hail events (Insurance Information Institute, 2025), but modules tested beyond the 25 mm IEC minimum (Kiwa PVEL) are a sensible choice on exposed farm sites.

What to buy in Idaho

For a Boise-area home on Idaho Power, design for self-consumption and summer evenings. Consider a west-leaning array, a hybrid inverter and a battery if your evening load is high. Compare modules in the solar panels for sale range, and read A1 SolarStore’s Idaho solar guide for state-specific options.

Irrigators and other large-service customers on Idaho Power’s Schedule 84 can install exporting systems up to the greater of their highest monthly billing demand in the past 12 months or 100 kW. That scale suits commercial solar panels and wholesale panels by the pallet. Our guide to buying solar panels by the pallet explains freight and price per watt. When you compare installer bids, use our checklist of what a home solar proposal should explain to confirm that savings are modeled on the export credit rate, not the retail rate.

Permits and interconnection

For Idaho Power, submit a customer generation application with a non-refundable $100 fee. Idaho Power reviews the project within 7 business days and tells you whether grid upgrades are needed. Install only after approval and after you have the required building and electrical permits. After the system passes a state or city electrical inspection, submit the System Verification Form. Idaho Power then visits the site within 10 business days and installs the meter (Idaho Power). Rocky Mountain Power charges an $85 application fee under Schedule 136. Under Idaho’s Residential Energy System Disclosure Act, solar retailers must tell you that regulators can change export compensation.

Contact the Idaho office

Frequently Asked Questions