LA · Solar + Battery

Solar quotes in Shreveport, LA.

Battery-coupled solar closes most often in Louisiana. One real quote from a vetted local installer, with the federal Clean Tech ITC (30%) on storage stacked with state net metering.

One vetted local installer · no lead list

What you get

One vetted local Shreveport 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): 11 yrs
Average payback: 70+
Local installers

Why solar in Shreveport

The number that determines what your exported solar is worth in Shreveport is not fixed and is not statewide. The Louisiana Public Service Commission publishes an Avoided Cost Rate by Electric Utility every year, so the figure is reset annually and differs between utilities. A projection that treats it as a constant, or that borrows a figure from a different utility, is getting one of its two main inputs wrong.

Set per utility, reset every year

The Commission publishes an Avoided Cost Rate by Electric Utility, with tables posted for successive years. So there is not one Louisiana avoided cost rate, there is one per utility per year.

Shreveport is in a different utility territory from Baton Rouge or Lafayette, so a figure borrowed from elsewhere in the state is not yours.

And because the rate is republished annually, a figure from an older guide may not be the one you would receive now, let alone the one you would receive in ten years.

Confirm the current published rate for your own utility directly, and ask which figure the projection used and from which year.

How a projection should handle a moving rate

Ask what the model assumed about the avoided cost rate across its term. A model holding the current figure flat for twenty-five years is making an assumption about future wholesale prices that should at least be stated.

Ask for the projection with the export rate reduced, by a quarter and by half, so you can see how much of the case depends on a number nobody has promised you.

Then ask what proportion of the projected savings comes from avoided purchases rather than from exports. The avoided purchase portion is unaffected by any change to the avoided cost rate, so a design weighted toward it is insulated.

That last question is the most useful one, because it converts an abstract worry about rate risk into a number you can act on by changing the design.

Designing to reduce the exposure

Sizing is the main lever. A system matched to what your household uses during daylight exports less, so less of its value rides on a rate that is reset annually.

Load shifting is the free lever. Dishwasher, laundry, pool pump and electric vehicle charging moved into daylight all convert exports at avoided cost into avoided purchases at retail.

Storage does the same at scale and, under a four-to-one gap between retail and avoided cost, does genuine arbitrage rather than only providing resilience.

Ask for the system modelled with and without storage so the incremental value appears as its own number, and ask what round-trip losses the model assumed.

What is left to build the number from

The 30 percent federal Residential Clean Energy Credit under Section 25D expired for property placed in service after December 31, 2025, and Louisiana state solar tax credit expired on December 31, 2017.

Section 48E survives at 30 percent for third-party owners under leases and power purchase agreements, so ask what a provider claims and what reaches you in the rate.

What exists is the property tax exemption, full retail value for self-consumed generation, and avoided-cost compensation for exports at your own utility currently published rate.

Ask for that rate confirmed for your utility and year, the export portion of the savings identified separately, and the projection stress-tested with the export rate reduced.

Incentives & rebates

Net metering: Avoided cost outside New Orleans; net metering within it

Louisiana has two different arrangements depending on who regulates your utility, and the difference is large. For utilities regulated by the Louisiana Public Service Commission, which is most of the state, the Commission changed the rules in September 2019. Customers who installed or applied after December 31, 2019 are on a two-channel arrangement: they pay the full retail rate for electricity purchased from the utility, they pay nothing for solar energy consumed on site as it is generated, and they receive avoided-cost compensation for electricity exported to the grid. Avoided cost is a wholesale-style measure and has run near 3 cents per kWh against a Louisiana retail average around 12 cents, so an exported kilowatt hour has been worth roughly a quarter of a self-consumed one. The Commission publishes an Avoided Cost Rate by Electric Utility each year, so the figure is reset annually and differs between utilities. Customers who installed before January 1, 2020 were grandfathered onto full retail net metering for 15 years, after which their excess is credited at avoided cost as well. New Orleans sits outside all of this. Entergy New Orleans is regulated by the New Orleans City Council, whose rules require net metering to be offered, and the Commission 2020 rules do not apply to its customers. The practical consequence everywhere outside New Orleans is that self-consumption is worth roughly four times export, so sizing to your daytime load, shifting flexible loads into daylight and considering storage all matter more here than the national conversation suggests.

Related Louisiana resources

Battery + Storage

Why solar + battery in Shreveport

Louisiana is two solar markets rather than one, and which you are in depends on who regulates your utility. For most of the state the Louisiana Public Service Commission ended retail net metering: customers who installed or applied after December 31, 2019 pay full retail for electricity they buy, pay nothing for solar they consume themselves, and receive avoided-cost compensation for anything they export. Against a Louisiana average around 12 cents per kWh, that export credit has run near 3 cents, roughly a quarter of retail. New Orleans is the exception. Entergy New Orleans is regulated by the New Orleans City Council rather than the Commission, the only city council in the country besides the District of Columbia with that authority over its electric utility, and the Commission 2020 rules do not apply there. On top of that, Louisiana state solar tax credit expired on December 31, 2017 and the federal residential credit expired for property placed in service after December 31, 2025.

✓ Federal Clean Tech ITC 30% on storage ✓ Outage resilience

How payback works in Louisiana

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

Is the Louisiana avoided cost rate the same statewide?

No. The Louisiana Public Service Commission publishes an Avoided Cost Rate by Electric Utility, with tables posted for successive years, so there is one rate per utility per year rather than a single statewide figure.

Does it change over time?

Yes, it is republished annually. A figure from an older guide may not be the one you would receive now, and a projection holding today figure flat for twenty-five years is making an assumption that should be stated.

How do I test how much that matters?

Ask what proportion of the projected savings comes from avoided purchases rather than exports, and ask for the projection with the export rate reduced by a quarter and by half. The avoided purchase portion is unaffected by rate changes.

How do I reduce my exposure?

Size to your daytime consumption so less becomes export, shift flexible loads into daylight, and consider storage, which under a four-to-one gap between retail and avoided cost does genuine arbitrage rather than only providing backup.