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.
The state of home solar in Colorado is strong! 100% of electricity now needs to come from carbon free renewable sources by 2050. Residents of the most populous areas continue to benefit from Xcel’s solar rewards program which pays extra for solar credits over 20 years. Way to go, lawmakers!
Xcel has released a nice program called Solar*Rewards, which earns you a little extra money for every kilowatt-hour of electricity your panels generate.
Rebates continue to be available for residents of Boulder and Colorado Springs, too. All in all, Colorado is a great place to go solar, and we know expert local installers. If you're ready to see how much you can save with solar on your roof, use our calculator above to get started.
Learn what solar incentives are available to Colorado homeowners
See what Colorado solar incentives you qualify for based on your utility company and city
Find out how much these incentives and/or Colorado 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 Colorado
This perk is commonly known as the ITC, short for “Investment Tax Credit”. If you install your photovoltaic system in 2020, the federal tax credit is 26% of the cost of your solar panel system. This is 26% 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 26% = $5,200.
The federal tax credit falls to 22% at the end of 2022.
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.
In short, net metering makes sure that you get credit, either in energy or in cash, for every bit of solar energy your panels produce. Your utility will track how much solar energy you produce and how much you use, and the utility will "store" any extra your solar system produces. At night or on cloudy days, the utility credits your surplus power back to you.
Net metering is one of the keys to successful solar policy, and Colorado may just have the best net metering laws in the country. The state requires utilities to pay you for the net excess energy that your system produces over the course of a year. So if you’re smart about your energy usage, your solar panels can actually turn a profit! The utility company will literally cut you a check at the end of the year for any extra solar juice you’ve contributed to the grid.
Colorado makes taking advantage of those savings even easier, allowing you to opt either for the check or to simply roll your extra credit to any subsequent monthly bills.
The real vein of Rockies gold for solar comes from Colorado’s utility companies. They have to meet the state’s renewable portfolio standard guidelines, so they’re willing to help you put solar on your roof, just for joining the world of electricity generation.
Truth be told, though, the big, fat rebates of years past are all but gone in the Rocky Mountain State. The good news is prices for solar have dropped by about the same amount of the erstwhile rebate money! The rebates worked!
If you’re lucky enough to be an Xcel customer in Colorado, you should definitely sign up for their Solar Rewards program. It pays you on an ongoing basis for the amount of kwh you produce with your solar panels.
You sign a contract to give your renewable energy certificates to Xcel for 20 years. They will pay you for the first 10 years at a rate of $.07/kwh, which is huge!
On an average sized 6kW system, you can expect to reap about $700 annually or $6,500 over those ten years.
A solar installation adds tens of thousands of dollars in value to your home. The good news in Colorado is that homeowners who go solar will not pay a single, solitary, Denver-minted penny in taxes on that value. Thanks, Colorado!
Also, when you install a residential solar system in Colorado you are exempt from 100% of related sales and use taxes. Now that’s how we like our renewable energy laws: simple, smart, and saving you money.
In 2020, the city of Boulder created a hefty home solar grant program. Income-qualified homeowners making less than $82,000 a year for a family of 4 can receive up to 50% of total project costs after rebates, incentives and tax credits are subtracted.
While that’s a good chunk of change, we’re curious to know how many residents will qualify, given Boulder’s relatively high living expenses. We’d love to see similar types of programs offered across more diverse areas of the state.
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Prices based on a 10.1kW system, after 26% federal tax credit
96 solar companies in Colorado provide pricing on SolarReviews. Here are the best rated companies near you.
4.81 68 Reviews
Roger, 4 weeks ago
Had a great experience with Smart Wave from beginning to end. Our system went in a lot faster than expected and seems to be running fine. We had a couple of minor issues but all it took was an email and everything was resolved that same day.
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Roger, 4 weeks ago
Had a great experience with Smart Wave from beginning to end. Our system went in a lot faster than expected and seems to be running fine. We had a couple of minor issues but all it took was an email and everything was resolved that same day.
4.77 52 Reviews
Rebecca Pichon, 2 weeks ago
I cannot express enough how amazing Jennifer from the Arvada office and her team are at Complete Energy Solutions. We had our solar panels installed in May of 2021 from a different solar company, and that company went bankrupt and never completed our project. So our solar panels were just sitting on our roof, not getting used, while the company we financed our solar loan through had to start charging us! So we were paying DOUBLE for our utilities for almost a year. And to be honest, we had given up hope that they would ever be turned on since company after company tried to come in and fix the problem and failed. It wasn’t until Jennifer and her team came in and fixed this colossal issue with ease, professionalism, confidence, transparency, and just the best communication I could have asked for. She was prompt about giving us updates and letting us know what was going on, and she did everything in her power to fix this awful situation we were in and we couldn’t be happier. If we could redo it all over again, we wish we would’ve gone through Complete Energy Solutions in the first place. Thank you Jennifer and everyone else who came to our house and worked behind the scenes so this small family could start saving money like we were supposed to in the first place! You guys rock!
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Rebecca Pichon, 2 weeks ago
I cannot express enough how amazing Jennifer from the Arvada office and her team are at Complete Energy Solutions. We had our solar panels installed in May of 2021 from a different solar company, and that company went bankrupt and never completed our project. So our solar panels were just sitting on our roof, not getting used, while the company we financed our solar loan through had to start charging us! So we were paying DOUBLE for our utilities for almost a year. And to be honest, we had given up hope that they would ever be turned on since company after company tried to come in and fix the problem and failed. It wasn’t until Jennifer and her team came in and fixed this colossal issue with ease, professionalism, confidence, transparency, and just the best communication I could have asked for. She was prompt about giving us updates and letting us know what was going on, and she did everything in her power to fix this awful situation we were in and we couldn’t be happier. If we could redo it all over again, we wish we would’ve gone through Complete Energy Solutions in the first place. Thank you Jennifer and everyone else who came to our house and worked behind the scenes so this small family could start saving money like we were supposed to in the first place! You guys rock!
4.71 28 Reviews
Lauri Loebel Carpenter, over 1 month
Melissa was in constant communication and always responded quickly to any questions or concerns I had. All of the employees with whom I dealt were courteous, knowledgeable, and did their job in an efficient and professional manner. A joy to work with them all, and now I have a solar home! I highly recommend Apollo Energy.
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Lauri Loebel Carpenter, over 1 month
Melissa was in constant communication and always responded quickly to any questions or concerns I had. All of the employees with whom I dealt were courteous, knowledgeable, and did their job in an efficient and professional manner. A joy to work with them all, and now I have a solar home! I highly recommend Apollo Energy.
4.68 64 Reviews
Tom Van Ness, 2 days ago
Very good customer service - on our vacation home. Matt and the team were able to plan, coordinate rebates, deal with the power company and get everything installed even with part shortages, etc. Also were great about a rebate that expired before install - kept their end of the deal. Now we are our own little power company.
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Tom Van Ness, 2 days ago
Very good customer service - on our vacation home. Matt and the team were able to plan, coordinate rebates, deal with the power company and get everything installed even with part shortages, etc. Also were great about a rebate that expired before install - kept their end of the deal. Now we are our own little power company.
4.66 49 Reviews
Dan, 2 weeks ago
Everything went smooth from the beginning with Chris Stalilonis that did the the system design to the Project Manager Lauren Kazun Comunication was good i always knew what was going on and what to expect. On the day of the install it was around 8 am it was -1 degree outside roof had 6 inches of snow on it. i will say they did a very good job i will always Highly recommend Solar Power Pros the prices are less than other Companies for high quality components and the install. Conduit is also hidden they even arrived a Month ahead of schedule Thanks Solar Power Pros
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Dan, 2 weeks ago
Everything went smooth from the beginning with Chris Stalilonis that did the the system design to the Project Manager Lauren Kazun Comunication was good i always knew what was going on and what to expect. On the day of the install it was around 8 am it was -1 degree outside roof had 6 inches of snow on it. i will say they did a very good job i will always Highly recommend Solar Power Pros the prices are less than other Companies for high quality components and the install. Conduit is also hidden they even arrived a Month ahead of schedule Thanks Solar Power Pros
Anonymous, over 1 month
Good installation
4.63 1,578 Reviews
Quannella Fleming, 1 week ago
I have called this company numerous times trying to get my referral. Apparently supervisors are in meetings everyday all day! Each month someone has promised to send my referral and it is still not here. I have been back and forth that the person I referred has contacted them as well! Lie after lie! Communication is terrible.
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Quannella Fleming, 1 week ago
I have called this company numerous times trying to get my referral. Apparently supervisors are in meetings everyday all day! Each month someone has promised to send my referral and it is still not here. I have been back and forth that the person I referred has contacted them as well! Lie after lie! Communication is terrible.
4.59 225 Reviews
Nic, 6 days ago
Company did not communicate with me or other areas of their own business causing several delays. Almost 5 months to get it done. Ironically the fastest part was my utility company coming out to start the service. Still waiting for the critter guard to go up and the company just keeps giving me the run around.
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Average cost (5kW system)
$17,000 ($3.40 per watt)
Nic, 6 days ago
Company did not communicate with me or other areas of their own business causing several delays. Almost 5 months to get it done. Ironically the fastest part was my utility company coming out to start the service. Still waiting for the critter guard to go up and the company just keeps giving me the run around.
Jenny Lighthart, over 1 month
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4.50 36 Reviews
Paul, over 1 month
Well Done! Curtis is a pleasure to work with, knowledgeable, experienced, quality from start to finish. No need to call anyone else.
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Paul, over 1 month
Well Done! Curtis is a pleasure to work with, knowledgeable, experienced, quality from start to finish. No need to call anyone else.
For more information about going solar near where you live, check out the following resources:
Fort Collins Solar Loan Program - Offers on-bill repayment