WA · Solar

Solar quotes in Everett, WA.

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

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7 kW
Average system size: $2.95/W
Average cost (USD): 13 yrs
Average payback: 200+
Local installers

Why solar in Everett

Everett sits in a part of Washington where winter windstorms take the power out, sometimes for days, and that changes what a battery is for. In most of the country storage is justified on bill savings. Here the economic case is weak, because Washington already credits exports at the retail rate and the power itself is cheap, while the resilience case is unusually strong. Being clear about which case a quote is actually making is the most useful thing you can do with it.

The weak case: storage as a savings device

Washington net metering under RCW 80.60 credits excess kilowatt hours at the retail rate. A battery therefore is not rescuing value that export would otherwise lose, which is the main economic argument for storage in states with poor export compensation.

The retail rate itself is low. Washington averaged around 15 cents per kWh in mid-2026, so the value of shifting a kilowatt hour from one time of day to another is small in absolute terms.

There is one genuine economic benefit: storage moves generation into your own consumption rather than into credit that may be forfeited to the utility on April 30. Credit that never accumulates cannot be given away.

That is real but modest, and it is a reason to size a battery sensibly rather than a reason to buy the largest one offered. Be sceptical of any Washington quote where a battery pays for itself on arbitrage.

The strong case: keeping the lights on

Solar alone does not keep your house powered during an outage. A standard grid-tied inverter disconnects when the grid goes down, for the safety of line workers, and that surprises more homeowners than any other fact about solar.

Backup requires a battery plus the right inverter and switching arrangement. If outage resilience is why you are considering storage in Everett, it has to be specified as equipment in the quote rather than implied.

Ask precisely which circuits would be backed up and for how long under a realistic winter load. Whole-home backup and essential-circuits backup are different systems at different prices, and the answer should be a list of circuits.

Ask what happens after the first day. A multi-day winter outage with low solar production is the scenario that matters here, and a battery sized for an evening is a different product from one intended to ride out a storm.

Making the quote say which case it is making

The practical request is simple: ask for the system priced and modelled both with and without the battery, so the incremental cost of storage is visible as a number rather than absorbed into a package price.

Then ask what portion of the projected savings comes from the battery. In Washington that portion should be small, and a quote showing otherwise deserves a specific explanation of the mechanism.

That does not make the battery a bad purchase. Resilience is a legitimate thing to buy, and in an outage-prone area it may be the main reason to do the project at all. It is simply not a savings device here.

Ask also whether the battery qualifies for anything from your own utility. Public utility districts set their own programmes on top of state law, so the answer depends on who bills you rather than on the state.

Rebuilding the Washington arithmetic

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 in Everett receives no federal tax credit on either the panels or the battery. Section 48E survives at 30 percent for third-party owners under leases and power purchase agreements.

Washington has no state income tax and therefore no state solar credit.

What exists is the sales and use tax exemption under RCW 82.08.962 on systems up to 100 kW AC through December 31, 2029, covering labour as well as equipment, and retail-rate net metering with the April 30 forfeit.

Then add the electricity you stop buying at your actual rate, and price the resilience benefit honestly as a separate thing you are choosing to buy rather than folding it into a savings number.

Incentives & rebates

Net metering: Retail-rate net metering with an April 30 annual forfeit

Washington net metering under RCW 80.60 covers systems of up to 100 kW. The utility measures net electricity produced or consumed during the billing period, and excess kilowatt hours generated in a period are credited on the following period bill at the retail rate. The rule that should shape your system design is the annual reset. On April 30 of each calendar year, any remaining unused kilowatt hour credit accumulated during the previous year is granted to the electric utility without any compensation to the customer-generator. There is no payout, no rollover into the next year and no negotiation. April is also close to the worst possible month for a Washington household to be holding surplus, since it falls after a long dark winter has drawn credits down and just as spring production is recovering. The practical consequence is that a system sized to produce more than the household consumes across a year is a system that donates the difference. Build from your last twelve months of bills and ask your installer what the projection assumes happens to credit remaining on April 30.

Related Washington resources

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

How payback works in Washington

System cost: $20,650
Estimated net cost: $20,650
Estimated payback: ~12.7 years
25-year net savings: ~$19,850

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

Frequently asked questions

Will my solar work during a power outage?

Not on its own. A standard grid-tied inverter disconnects when the grid goes down, for line worker safety. Backup requires a battery plus the right inverter and switching arrangement, specified as equipment in the quote.

Does a battery save money in Washington?

Only modestly. Washington credits exports at the retail rate under RCW 80.60, so storage is not rescuing lost export value, and the retail rate is low. The one real economic benefit is avoiding credit that would be forfeited on April 30.

So why would I buy one in Everett?

Resilience. Winter windstorms take the power out here, sometimes for days, and that is a legitimate thing to buy. It should just be priced as resilience rather than presented as a savings device.

How should the battery appear in my quote?

Priced and modelled both with and without it, so the incremental cost is a visible number, along with what portion of projected savings it accounts for and a list of which circuits it would back up and for how long.