KY · Solar

Solar quotes in Richmond, KY.

One real quote from a vetted local Richmond installer, sized to your roof, your bill, and every federal + state rebate you qualify for.

One vetted local installer · no lead list

What you get

One vetted local Richmond installer
Rebates checked for your exact address
No call-center spam, no lead list

7.5 kW
Average system size: $2.85/W
Average cost (USD): 13 yrs
Average payback: 50+
Local installers

Why solar in Richmond

With no federal residential tax credit since the end of 2025 and no Kentucky state solar credit at all, the value of a Richmond solar system comes down to two numbers: how much electricity it produces, and what each kilowatt hour is worth to you. Under Kentucky Utilities full retail net metering the second number is the retail rate, which is favourable. The first is a modelled assumption, and that is where your diligence belongs.

Nothing at tax level to absorb an error

The 30 percent federal Residential Clean Energy Credit under Section 25D expired for property placed in service after December 31, 2025. A cash or loan purchase now receives no federal tax credit.

Kentucky has no state income tax credit for residential solar, so nothing at state level replaced it.

Section 48E, the commercial credit, survives at 30 percent for third-party owners under leases and power purchase agreements. The provider claims it and whether any value reaches you depends on the rate you are offered.

So for a cash purchase the incentive column is empty, and the entire return comes from production multiplied by rate. Neither term has anything else backing it up.

Interrogating the production estimate

Ask for the annual figure in kilowatt hours per year rather than only as a dollar saving, so the production assumption and the rate assumption can be checked separately.

Ask what data source produced it and whether it applies location-specific irradiance for your address rather than a regional average.

Ask what shading analysis was done and what it assumed about tree growth over the system life. Central Kentucky lots are frequently wooded and a model built on today canopy will overstate output in ten years.

Ask what annual degradation it applied. Panels lose a small amount of output each year, and a model holding production flat across twenty-five years overstates the back half of the projection.

And the rate on the other side of it

Ask which retail rate the projection used and check it against a recent bill. Kentucky averages around 15 cents per kWh, but your own rate is the one that matters.

Ask whether fixed monthly charges were included. They do not fall when your consumption does, so a model treating savings as a percentage of your current bill will overstate the result.

Ask what escalation rate the projection applied over its term, and ask to see it at zero. A compounding escalator over twenty-five years can carry most of the headline savings on its own.

And ask the installer to confirm in writing which net metering arrangement your account would be on, since Kentucky terms are set per utility and one large Kentucky utility has already moved away from retail credit.

Rebuilding the arithmetic on Kentucky terms

Strike the federal residential credit from any quote showing it, and do not expect a state credit in its place, because Kentucky has none.

Rebuild from full retail net metering under the Kentucky Utilities arrangement, an eligible system size up to 45 kW under Senate Bill 100, and the electricity you stop buying at your actual rate.

Ask your county property valuation administrator how residential solar is treated for assessment at your address, since that is administered locally.

Then ask for the projection in writing with the production figure in kilowatt hours, the rate sourced from your own bill, fixed charges included and the escalation assumption stated.

Incentives & rebates

Net metering: Full retail at LG&E and KU; avoided cost at Duke Kentucky

Kentucky law requires investor-owned utilities and electric cooperatives, excluding TVA, to offer net metering to customers with qualifying solar systems, and Senate Bill 100 raised the eligible system size from 30 kW to 45 kW. Compensation is overseen by the Kentucky Public Service Commission and set per utility, which has produced a genuinely split market. LG&E and Kentucky Utilities customers still receive full retail net metering, with exported electricity credited at the same rate they pay for it. That is now unusual: most neighbouring states have moved away from retail-rate credit in the last few years, and it is the single most valuable feature of solar in those territories. Duke Energy Kentucky moved in the other direction, introducing Rider NM II on January 1, 2025 to comply with a Commission order. Under NM II excess generation is credited at an avoided cost rate published at $0.062924 per kWh for residential customers, against a Kentucky residential average around 15 cents per kWh, so roughly 40 percent of retail. Systems in service by December 31, 2024 were grandfathered onto the previous Net Metering I rider for 25 years. An appeal against the Commission approval of NM II is pending in Franklin Circuit Court, so the position is not finally settled. Separately, TVA supplies much of western Kentucky through local power companies and municipal utilities, which sit outside the state requirement entirely and compensate exports at TVA avoided cost. The practical result is that the first question about any Kentucky solar quote is which utility bills the address.

Related Kentucky resources

Kentucky solar incentives & rebates Full breakdown of federal, provincial, and utility programs.

How payback works in Kentucky

System cost: $21,375
Estimated net cost: $21,375
Estimated payback: ~13.2 years
25-year net savings: ~$19,125

These figures are illustrative; your actual quote reflects your roof, sun exposure, and local utility rates.

Frequently asked questions

Are there any solar tax credits left in Kentucky?

No. The federal Section 25D credit expired for property placed in service after December 31, 2025, and Kentucky has no state solar tax credit. Section 48E survives but is claimed by a third-party owner under a lease or power purchase agreement.

What carries the case now?

Production multiplied by rate. Under Kentucky Utilities full retail net metering the rate is favourable, but with the incentive column empty there is nothing else backing either number up.

What should I ask about the production estimate?

For it in kilowatt hours per year, the data source and whether it uses location-specific irradiance for your address, what the shading analysis assumed about tree growth, and what annual degradation it applied.

What should I check about the rate?

That it matches a recent bill of your own rather than a state average, that fixed monthly charges are included since they do not fall with consumption, and what escalation rate was applied. Ask to see the projection at zero escalation.