Self-consumption is now the valuable half
Electricity you consume at the moment your panels produce it offsets a purchase at the full retail rate, because you simply never buy it.
Generation beyond that is credited at the applicable rate: roughly 12.4 cents per kWh for Appalachian Power customers outside the 2026 transition window, or 9.3 cents for excess in Mon Power and Potomac Edison territory from January 1, 2025.
Both are below retail, so the same kilowatt hour is worth more used than credited. That is a change from the one-to-one crediting West Virginia previously offered.
So annual production alone no longer summarises what a system is worth. The self-consumption share does much of the work.
What share is realistic for your household
A household with someone home during the day, or with substantial daytime load, consumes a high share of its generation directly. That is the favourable case.
A household that leaves in the morning and returns in the evening exports more of its midday production, and that portion earns the lower credited rate.
Ask what self-consumption share the model assumed and what it was based on. An assumption drawn from your actual usage pattern is far stronger than a generic figure.
Ask to see the projection at a lower share. If the case only works at an optimistic assumption about when you use power, that is worth knowing before you sign.
Raising the share without spending more
Shifting flexible loads into daylight converts credited generation into a full retail-rate offset. Dishwasher, washing machine, dryer and any pool pump all move easily.
Charging an electric vehicle during the day rather than overnight is the largest single shift available to a household that has one.
A battery does the same automatically and at scale, though with credited rates at 67 to 75 percent of retail the arbitrage margin is thinner here than in an avoided-cost state, so weigh it on resilience as well.
Ask for the projection with and without load shifting assumed, so you can see how much of the improvement is available at no cost.
Building the number from the meter and the credit
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 Weirton receives no federal tax credit, and West Virginia has no state solar tax credit.
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 retail value for self-consumed generation and credited generation at the rate applicable to your utility and tier.
Ask for the self-consumption share stated on the page, the projection shown at a lower share, and the two values separated rather than combined into one savings figure.