The three things to strip out first
Ask whether the projection applies the 30 percent federal Residential Clean Energy Credit under Section 25D. It expired for property placed in service after December 31, 2025, so a cash or loan purchase now receives no federal credit.
Ask whether it assumes a utility rebate. Missouri investor-owned utilities historically ran solar rebate programmes but these have largely been discontinued, so confirm directly with your own utility rather than accepting the line.
Ask whether it assumes a property tax exemption. The Missouri Supreme Court held on August 9, 2022 in Johnson v. Springfield Solar 1, LLC that the exemption under Section 137.100(10) is unconstitutional, and the State Tax Commission has since issued guidance to assessors.
Then ask to see the projection with all three removed. That figure is the honest baseline, and comparing two quotes on their baselines rather than their headlines is the single most useful thing you can do.
And the assumption about how crediting works
Standard residential tariffs apply a retail-rate offset for in-period consumption, with year-end surplus reconciled at avoided cost rather than at the retail rate. A model that carries surplus forward at retail indefinitely is describing something the tariff does not do.
Ask what percentage of your annual usage the proposed system covers, and ask for the design to be built from your last twelve months of electricity bills rather than a generic household profile.
Ask specifically how the year-end reconciliation was treated. If a system is sized well beyond your consumption, a meaningful share of its output ends up settled at avoided cost, and the projection should show that rather than average it away.
Ask whether the production estimate was modelled for your specific roof, orientation and shading rather than derived from a regional average, and ask for a shading assessment covering the whole year rather than the hour of the site visit.
What belongs in the contract
Get equipment specified by manufacturer and model number rather than by description. Model numbers are what make a warranty enforceable later and what let you compare two quotes on the same basis rather than on adjectives.
Establish who honours each warranty and for how long. Panels, inverter and workmanship are commonly covered by three different parties on three different terms, and a company that has left the market cannot support a workmanship warranty however well drafted.
Ask what the workmanship warranty covers on roof penetrations specifically, since leaks around mounting hardware are the most common physical failure in residential solar and typically appear a few years in.
Get the production estimate into the contract along with what happens if actual production falls materially short. An estimate that appears only in a sales presentation is not a commitment.
Building the number from confirmed pieces only
Three things people expect in Missouri are either gone or unreliable, and a quote built on any of them overstates your return. The 30 percent federal Residential Clean Energy Credit under Section 25D expired for property placed in service after December 31, 2025, so a cash or loan purchase now receives no federal credit.
Utility solar rebates historically existed here but have largely been discontinued. If a rebate appears in a quote, confirm directly with your own utility whether it is currently open, what it pays and whether funding remains, before you sign anything.
And the property tax exemption most guides still list was held unconstitutional by the Missouri Supreme Court on August 9, 2022. Ask your county assessor how residential solar is being assessed at your address rather than assuming an exemption applies.
What does exist is net metering under the Easy Connection Act and the electricity you stop buying. Ask any installer to rebuild the arithmetic from those two things alone, and treat resistance to producing that version as informative in itself.