Snow, altitude and what they do to production
Snow on panels stops production while it sits, and how quickly an array clears depends on pitch, orientation and mounting. Ask how the proposed layout behaves under snow, whether any roof features would trap it against the array, and what the mounting is rated to carry as a load.
Cold is good for output. Panel efficiency falls as cell temperature rises, so cold bright days at altitude can be genuinely productive, and the seasonal shape here is different from the low desert rather than uniformly worse.
Ask what temperature and snow assumptions sit behind your production estimate, and whether it was modelled for your actual location rather than a statewide average. Ask to see monthly figures rather than an annual total.
If your home heats with electricity, your consumption peaks in the season when production is lowest and snow is most likely. That mismatch belongs in the projection explicitly rather than being averaged away.
The tier rules are the same everywhere in Nevada
New customers must enroll in Tier 4, which credits excess energy at 75 percent of the retail rate, and customers keep their tier for a period of 20 years at the location where the system was originally installed.
Excess energy pushed onto the grid earns credits, which are recorded on your bill and automatically applied in the next billing period in which you consume more than you produce. That carry-forward matters more in a climate with a real seasonal swing, because summer surplus can offset winter shortfall.
It still does not make an exported kilowatt hour equal to one you buy. Ask your installer to model the self-consumed share explicitly and value the remainder at 75 percent of retail rather than at retail.
Ask whether the projection uses 75 percent for exports. A model copied from an older Nevada template or built on one-to-one crediting will overstate your return.
The roof underneath
Panels outlast most roof coverings, so a covering within a few years of the end of its life should be replaced before the array goes on. Removing and reinstalling a system to reach the roof underneath is a cost with no offsetting benefit.
Freeze and thaw cycling is harder on a roof than steady sun, so ask for a condition assessment rather than an age estimate. Ask how many layers of covering are present and whether anything needs reinforcement to carry the array plus snow load.
Ask how mounting penetrations are flashed and sealed, and what method the roofing manufacturer approves for your covering. Leaks around mounting hardware are the most common physical failure in residential solar, and a climate with snow melt and refreeze is an unforgiving place to find one.
Ask what the workmanship warranty covers on those penetrations, for how long, and who honours it. A company that has left the market cannot support a workmanship warranty however well it is written.
The tier you join, and the federal credit that ended
New Nevada customers must enroll in Tier 4, which credits excess energy at 75 percent of the retail rate. Tier 1 credited 95 percent and closed in August 2018, Tier 2 credited 88 percent and closed in June 2019, and Tier 3 credited 81 percent and closed in June 2020.
Customers keep their tier for a period of 20 years at the location where the net metering system was originally installed. That is a long commitment attached to a property rather than to a person, and it is worth understanding before you sign.
Because a neighbour who installed in 2018 or 2019 is on a materially better tier than you can join, their reported payback is accurate for their project and is not a guide to yours. That is not them being misleading, it is a different arrangement entirely.
On the federal side, the 30 percent 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. Section 48E survives at 30 percent for third-party owners under leases and power purchase agreements, so ask any such provider what they claim and what of that value reaches you, and confirm with a tax advisor.