There are three options, and you should know which one you are on
Xcel Energy states that Commission rules provide for three metering and billing options for customer-owned generation through rate schedule IV-86, under Public Utility Commission of Texas Substantive Rule 25.242.
Three options means a decision, and a decision made by default is still a decision. Most homeowners are never told there is a choice, accept whatever their installer files, and find out afterwards how their production is actually valued.
Ask Xcel Energy directly what the three options are, which one a residential rooftop customer at your address would be placed on by default, and how the billing differs between them across a full year. Ask for it in writing. That answer, more than the brand of panel on your roof, determines what the system returns.
Then ask your installer which of the three their savings projection assumes. If they cannot name it, the projection is not describing your situation, and you have just learned something useful about how much work went into it.
Interconnection, and who keeps the renewable energy credits
Xcel Energy states that customers may install rooftop solar and receive the same net metering benefits as under the Solar Rewards incentive program through a request for general interconnection, and that customers who install outside the Solar Rewards incentive program keep the renewable energy credits associated with their solar production.
That second point is worth understanding before you sign anything. Renewable energy credits are a separate thing from the electricity itself, and who ends up holding them varies by program and by contract. Being told you keep them is a real distinction, and it is one you can lose in the small print of an agreement.
So ask any installer, and any lease or power purchase agreement provider, who retains the renewable energy credits under their arrangement. A third-party owner typically claims a good deal that a purchaser would keep, and that is part of the price of the arrangement rather than an incidental detail.
On timing, Xcel Energy states that engineers will review the application within 15 business days of receiving all required plan documents and the required interconnection study fee. Note the condition attached: the clock starts when the submission is complete, so an incomplete application does not start it at all. Ask your installer to confirm the date the complete package went in.
Strong sun, hard weather, and the roof underneath
The Panhandle gets excellent sun, which is the straightforward case for solar here. Long clear days and high summer cooling loads line up reasonably well with when a rooftop array produces the most.
The weather that comes with those clear skies is harder on hardware than the sunshine is generous. Hail is a genuine consideration in this part of Texas, so ask what hail rating the panels carry, how the mounting is specified for wind, and what the warranty actually covers if a storm damages the array.
Ask your home insurer too, before installation rather than after. Find out whether a rooftop array is covered under your existing policy, whether it changes your premium or deductible, and whether the insurer needs to be notified. That is a five-minute call that occasionally changes the whole decision.
Check the roof covering's age and condition before anything is ordered. Panels outlast most coverings, so one within a few years of replacement should be replaced first rather than paying later to remove and reinstall the array. In hail country, ask for a condition assessment rather than an age estimate.
The exemption you must file for, and the credit that ended
Texas Tax Code Section 11.27 exempts 100 percent of the appraised home value added by an installed solar energy device from property tax. It is not automatic. Form 50-123 must be filed with your county appraisal district, and the deadline for the current tax year is generally April 30.
Ask whether your installer assists with the filing and put the deadline in your own calendar regardless. An exemption you qualified for and never claimed is the most avoidable cost in a Texas solar project, and unlike most of the arithmetic on this page it is entirely within your control.
The federal position has changed and plenty of published material has not caught up. 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 does not receive it. A quote that still applies it is overstating your return substantially.
Section 48E survives at 30 percent for third-party owners under leases and power purchase agreements, so such a provider may claim it and reflect part of the value in the rate they offer. Ask what they claim and what reaches you, and confirm with a tax advisor. If you are in an association, Texas Property Code Section 202.010 forbids it from prohibiting a solar energy device, and House Bill 431, effective May 29, 2025, extended the definition to solar roof tiles.