*Prices here reflect South Carolina’s approved 2026 utility rates, the Solar Choice net-billing tariffs, and the end of the federal solar credit, current as of July 2026, per the South Carolina Public Service Commission, the utilities’ tariff filings, and the IRS.
How Much Do Solar Panels Cost in South Carolina Right Now?
A competitively shopped residential system in South Carolina runs $2.80 per watt installed before incentives. For the typical home, that points to an 8.58 kW system at $24,016, sized to cover a year of normal usage.
The sizing comes from sun and consumption. South Carolina gets 5.37 peak sun hours a day, a solid Southeast resource, so each kilowatt of panels produces 1,469 kilowatt-hours a year. A home using 1,050 kilowatt-hours a month needs an 8.58 kW system to cover its usage across the year.
Try our South Carolina solar cost and savings calculator!
South Carolina Solar Panel Cost by System Size
System size drives the total cost of a solar installation more than any other factor. At $2.80 per watt, ±12% for installer variation, here is what gross cost looks like across the common sizes, before incentives.
System Size | Solar Only (Before Incentives) | Solar + 13.5 kWh Battery | Best Fit |
|---|---|---|---|
6 kW | $14,800 to $18,800 | $30,300 to $34,300 | Smaller home or partial offset |
8 kW | $19,700 to $25,100 | $35,200 to $40,600 | Average South Carolina home |
10 kW | $24,600 to $31,400 | $40,100 to $46,900 | Larger or all-electric home |
12 kW | $29,600 to $37,600 | $45,100 to $53,100 | Large home with an EV and storage |
*Based on a $2.80 per watt competitive price with a ±12% band; the battery column adds $15,525 for 13.5 kWh of storage at $1,150 per kWh installed. Real quotes vary by roof, equipment, and installer.
A 10 kW system, the size many higher-usage South Carolina homes choose, runs $24,600 to $31,400 before incentives, with a typical quote landing inside that range. Add a 13.5 kWh battery and the same system runs $40,100 to $46,900, since installed storage adds $15,525 to the project.
Why Solar Costs What It Does in South Carolina
Equipment is only part of the price. A few South Carolina conditions move the final number, some up and some down.
Coastal wind and hurricane engineering. Charleston, Horry, and Beaufort counties sit in high-wind coastal zones, where the building code requires roof-access setbacks and a structural review, and added framing for wind loading pulls in a separate licensed trade. That review and the hardware cost more on the coast than they do inland.
Licensing and trade rules. South Carolina requires a licensed residential builder or a specialty registration with an electrical classification to install, plus a roofing classification for roof mounts. Reputable installers price that compliance in, and it is part of why a bargain-basement quote is worth a second look.
Older homes and panel upgrades. Homes with under-200-amp service may need an electrical panel upgrade before a system can connect, and that line rarely shows up in a headline per-watt quote.
What pulls the price down. South Carolina’s labor costs are low and its installer field is competitive, both of which hold the per-watt number down. A large inland roof and a cash purchase keep it lower still.
The Federal Solar Tax Credit Ended for 2026 Purchases
The single biggest change to South Carolina solar economics in years arrived with the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which ended the 30% Residential Clean Energy Credit under Section 25D for systems whose installation is completed after December 31, 2025. A cash or loan purchase completed in 2026 earns no federal credit at all.
The IRS treats the expense as made when the installation is completed, so a 2025 deposit does not rescue a 2026 finish. For the typical South Carolina home, that means the gross price is also the net price, with no 30% reduction waiting at tax time.
One structure still reaches a federal credit. A lease is the only way to reach a federal benefit in South Carolina in 2026, because the company that owns the system can claim the separate commercial clean-energy credit under Section 48E and may price some of it into your rate. That credit belongs to the system owner, not to you, and it carries no homeowner-claimable rate. Power purchase agreements are prohibited in the state, so a lease is the only third-party option, and the loan, lease, and cash comparison covers the trade-off.
South Carolina’s 25% State Tax Credit Now Carries the Load
With the federal credit gone for buyers, one state incentive does the heavy lifting, and it is a strong one.
The 25% state income tax credit. Under South Carolina Code §12-6-3587, you can claim 25% of the cost to purchase and install a solar system against your state income tax. On a $24,016 system that is $6,004 in total value. The catch is in how you take it: the credit is capped at $3,500 a year, or 50% of your tax liability, whichever is less, and you carry any balance forward for up to 10 years. It pays out as a multi-year credit claimed across two or more tax years rather than as a check at closing. The statute is also explicit that the credit cannot be claimed before the installation is completed. For the dollar detail on this and every other program, see South Carolina’s solar incentives in detail.
The property-tax exemption. Under §12-37-220(B)(53), a residential solar system up to 20 kW-AC is exempt from the property-tax increase its added home value would otherwise trigger. You keep the resale value without a higher tax bill.
A Santee Cooper rebate, if that is your utility. Santee Cooper is the one South Carolina utility that still offers an upfront cash rebate, at $950 per kW up to $5,700, for systems installed by a Trade Ally with a NABCEP-certified crew. Funding is first-come with a waitlist for the program year, and a 6 kW-AC lifetime cap applies per meter. Dominion and Duke customers get no comparable rebate.
Do not count on an upfront rebate elsewhere. Outside Santee Cooper territory, there is no state or utility check waiting at purchase. The 25% credit and the two exemptions are the reliable savings, and the credit arrives over time.
Solar Payback on a Dominion, Duke, or Santee Cooper Bill
Payback here works differently than in a full-retail net-metering state, and the difference matters. South Carolina’s investor-owned utilities put solar customers on Solar Choice, a net-billing tariff created by Act 62 of 2019. You are credited at retail for the solar you use in the moment, but the excess you export earns only the avoided-cost rate, a few cents per kilowatt-hour, rather than the full retail rate.
That single design choice reshapes the math: with exports worth so little, the biggest lever on your payback is self-consumption, the share of your production you use directly instead of sending it to the grid. A home that runs its air conditioning, pool pump, or EV charger during daylight gets more out of the same system than one that exports most of what it makes.
How Solar Choice Net Billing Changes the Return
Under Solar Choice, each utility credits net excess energy at an avoided-cost rate set in its annual filings: Duke Energy Carolinas pays $0.0419 per kilowatt-hour, Duke Energy Progress pays $0.0401, and Dominion’s residual credit runs 4.14¢. Those are the rates your exported power earns, and they are one quarter of the statewide retail average.
Santee Cooper, which sits outside the Public Service Commission’s authority, runs its own DG Rider that credits exports at 4.15¢ with a separate monthly charge.
For a sense of where South Carolina sits nationally, the statewide average residential rate is 15.93¢ per kilowatt-hour, which ranks the state 23rd and 11.1% below the national average. That blended figure is useful for comparing one state against another, but it is not any single utility’s rate, and it is not what your exports earn.
Solar Payback by South Carolina Utility
Your utility and your self-consumption determine your payback. The table below assumes a $24,016 system and a 60% self-consumption fraction, with exports valued at each utility’s avoided-cost credit.
Utility | Export Credit (Avoided Cost) | Simple Payback (Gross) | Payback After State Credit |
|---|---|---|---|
Dominion Energy South Carolina | 4.14¢/kWh | 17.0 years | 12.7 years |
Duke Energy Carolinas | 4.19¢/kWh | 18.9 years | 14.2 years |
Duke Energy Progress | 4.01¢/kWh | 19.0 years | 14.2 years |
Santee Cooper | 4.15¢/kWh | Three-part rate, modeled separately | Plus $950/kW rebate |
*Note: Gross basis is $24,016; the “after state credit” column reflects the 25% credit claimed over two tax years, capped at $3,500 a year, not an upfront rebate. Figures assume 60% self-consumption and value exports at avoided cost. Raising self-consumption shortens every row.
Duke holds solar customers to a $30 monthly minimum bill that solar cannot erase, and each utility keeps a fixed monthly charge on the bill no matter how much you generate, and because self-consumption is the dominant lever, shifting more of your usage into daylight hours is a surer way to shorten payback than adding panels.
For the full long-horizon view, see whether solar is worth it in South Carolina.
How to Pay for Solar in South Carolina
With no federal credit for buyers, the way you finance a system now sets your real cost. South Carolina gives you three practical options, because the fourth, a power purchase agreement, is illegal here.
What Paying Cash Gets You in South Carolina
Cash delivers the best long-term return. You own the system, you keep every net-billing credit, and you are the one who claims the 25% state tax credit over the coming years. Cash stings more in 2026 with no federal credit to soften it, and it still wins over 25 years: no interest, no lien, and the state credit lands in your pocket alone.
How Dealer Fees Change a South Carolina Solar Loan
A loan can work, but watch the dealer fee. Many $0-down solar loans bury a dealer-fee markup, which the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has found runs 10% to 30% of the cash price and can exceed 50%, inside the amount financed.
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory records the same pattern at national scale: loan-financed systems transact at a median of $4.70 per watt against $3.50 for cash purchases, with rolled-in dealer fees accounting for part of that spread.
Before signing, ask for the cash price next to the financed price so you can see the markup, and confirm the monthly payment is genuinely lower than your current power bill. A $0-down offer is rarely free once that fee is counted; for how those offers are structured, see how $0-down solar works in South Carolina.
Leases in South Carolina (and Why PPAs Are Off the Table)
A lease is the only way to reach a federal credit in 2026, since the company that owns the system claims the commercial credit and prices some of it into your rate. Leases are legal in South Carolina under Code §58-27-2610, and the law directs the net-metering bill credits to the host customer’s account.
You give up ownership, the state tax credit, and the net-billing value, which all go to the provider. Get the annual escalator in writing, and understand what happens to the contract if you sell the house.
Power purchase agreements, the pay-per-kilowatt-hour cousin of a lease, are prohibited statewide, so any offer framed as a PPA in South Carolina is not a legal structure.
When Solar Doesn’t Pay Under Solar Choice Net Billing
Solar is not right for every South Carolina home, and a few cases genuinely do not pay off.
Low electricity usage:
Duke holds solar customers to a $30 monthly minimum bill, so a small system on a small bill has little room to save. A home using 300 kilowatt-hours a month offsets only a slice of its variable charges while still owing that minimum, which can push payback past the life of the panels. Below 500 kilowatt-hours a month on Duke’s Solar Choice, rooftop solar rarely pays off. Dominion’s minimum charge is lower, but the same logic holds.
A roof due for replacement:
If your roof has fewer than 8 to 10 years of life left, replace it first. Removing and resetting an array for a re-roof is a substantial extra cost, and no solar warranty covers it. A new roof is a clear go and a worn one is a clear wait; the marginal case is a 10-year-old roof, where the question is whether you would rather re-roof now and mount once or pay to pull and reset the panels mid-life.
Heavy shade or the wrong exposure:
A roof in deep afternoon shade or one that faces mostly north produces less than its rating, which stretches payback in a state where exports already earn little. Ask the installer to model production with the shade in place, and let the modeled number, not the compass direction alone, make the call.
Planning to move soon:
Solar rewards staying put. If you may move within five years, an owned system’s payback will not finish while you own the home, and the state tax credit you claim over several years may not arrive in full either.
Renters and a caution on “free” solar:
Renting rules out rooftop ownership, so Dominion and Santee Cooper community-solar subscriptions are the better fit for renters, shaded roofs, and the smallest bills.
Be wary of any “free solar” pitch: South Carolina’s market carries a hard lesson in Pink Energy, the installer whose 2022 collapse left tens of thousands of customers owing on systems, some of which underperformed or were never finished. A legitimate lease has clear terms, an escalator you can read, and a company likely to still be around to honor the warranty.
What to Ask a South Carolina Solar Installer Before You Sign
South Carolina’s licensing rules are specific, and the state’s recent history makes vetting worth the time.
Before you sign, ask:
- “Are you licensed for this work in South Carolina?” Installers need a residential builder’s license or a specialty registration with an electrical classification under South Carolina Code §40-11-410, plus a roofing classification for roof mounts. Ask for the license number and verify it.
- “Are your crews NABCEP-certified?” This is the leading industry credential, and it is required for Santee Cooper rebate work.
- “Is a panel upgrade in this quote?” If your home has under-200-amp service, confirm whether the upgrade is included or billed later.
- “What is the cash price, next to the financed price?” A $0-down loan can hide a large dealer fee, so ask to see both numbers, and reject any quote that still shows a 30% federal credit for a system you own.
- “How do you handle Solar Choice enrollment and interconnection?” The paperwork with Dominion or Duke sets your export terms, so an installer who runs it routinely saves you delay.
A ranked comparison of the top solar companies in South Carolina walks through the vetting steps.
Price a System Built for Your South Carolina Usage
Your utility, roof, and usage decide your real number, and in a net-billing state how much power you use in daylight matters as much as the price per watt.
Enter your ZIP code for a cost and savings estimate built on your local rate and roof.
Try our South Carolina solar cost and savings calculator!
Frequently Asked Questions
A typical 8.58 kW system runs $24,016 before incentives, based on a competitive price of $2.80 per watt. Smaller 6 kW systems start at $14,800, while larger 12 kW systems reach $37,600. With the federal credit gone for purchases, the gross price is also what you pay upfront.
A competitively shopped system costs $2.80 per watt installed. Transacted prices recorded across all sales channels run higher, toward the $4 per watt range nationally, because they include loan-financed jobs with dealer fees and premium installs.
A 10 kW system runs $24,600 to $31,400 before incentives at the $2.80 per watt competitive price. Adding a 13.5 kWh battery brings it to $40,100 to $46,900, since storage adds $15,525.
Not for a purchase. The Residential Clean Energy Credit ended for systems installed after December 31, 2025. A lease can still reach the separate commercial credit, claimed by the system owner, with some value passed back through a lower monthly rate.
For a purchased system, simple payback runs 17 years on gross cost and 13 to 14 years once the 25% state credit is claimed over the following tax years. It is fastest on Dominion and slower on the two Duke utilities, and higher self-consumption shortens it.
Leases are legal under Code §58-27-2610, and the bill credits go to the host customer. Power purchase agreements are prohibited statewide, so a lease is the only third-party financing option here.
Methodology: Cost figures in this article use the EcoGen Solar Cost Index, a standardized per-watt installed price using a weighted average from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s, the U.S. Department of Energy and NREL benchmarks, combined with current marketplace data. Payback ranges use the EcoGen Solar Payback Methodology. Derived figures such as the typical system size, average consumption, and net savings come from EcoGen’s State Profile for South Carolina.
Research & Sources
EcoGen America reviewed federal electricity price data, solar production modeling tools, South Carolina tax statutes, state solar policy legislation, federal tax guidance, utility rebate materials, distributed solar market research, contractor licensing resources, consumer finance research, professional certification resources, and South Carolina utility solar tariffs for this article. Sources were accessed July 9, 2026, unless another publication, release, effective, or update date is listed below.
- U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.B: Average Price of Electricity to Ultimate Customers by End-Use Sector, by State, Year-to-Date. Federal residential electricity price data table. Data for April 2026; released June 25, 2026. Accessed July 9, 2026.
- National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). PVWatts Calculator. Solar photovoltaic energy production modeling tool. Accessed July 9, 2026.
- South Carolina General Assembly. South Carolina Code of Laws § 12-6-3587: Purchase and Installation of Solar Energy System for Heating Water, Space Heating, Air Cooling, or Generating Electricity. State solar energy income tax credit statute. Accessed July 9, 2026.
- South Carolina General Assembly. South Carolina Code of Laws § 12-37-220: General Exemption from Taxes. Property tax exemption statute, including renewable energy resource property provisions. Accessed July 9, 2026.
- South Carolina General Assembly. Act No. 62, H.3659: South Carolina Energy Freedom Act. State solar policy legislation, including Section 58-27-2610 related to leases of renewable electric generation facilities. Signed May 16, 2019. Accessed July 9, 2026.
- South Carolina Office of Regulatory Staff (ORS). South Carolina Energy Freedom Act. Solar Choice and Energy Freedom Act consumer resource. Accessed July 9, 2026.
- Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Residential Clean Energy Credit. Federal Section 25D tax credit guidance. Updated July 4, 2026. Accessed July 9, 2026.
- Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Treasury, IRS Issue FAQs to Address the Accelerated Termination of Several Energy Provisions Under OBBB. Federal clean energy tax guidance. Published August 21, 2025. Accessed July 9, 2026.
- Santee Cooper. Residential Solar Programs: EmpowerSolar. Solar Home rebate and rooftop solar program resource. Accessed July 9, 2026.
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). Tracking the Sun. Distributed solar pricing, design, and market trend research resource. Accessed July 9, 2026.
- South Carolina Energy Office. Licenses. Solar installer and contractor licensing resource, including South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation requirements for solar installations. Accessed July 9, 2026.
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Solar Financing Market: Issue Spotlight. Consumer finance research report on residential solar financing. Published August 2024. Accessed July 9, 2026.
- North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP). Certifications. Solar and renewable energy board certification resource for installers and industry professionals. Accessed July 9, 2026.
- Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC. Rider RSC (SC): Residential Solar Choice. South Carolina Third Revised Leaf No. 136; Public Service Commission of South Carolina Docket No. 2020-264-E, Order No. 2021-390. Effective January 1, 2026. Accessed July 9, 2026.
- Duke Energy Progress, LLC. Residential Solar Choice Rider RSC. South Carolina Second Revised Leaf No. 663; Public Service Commission of South Carolina Docket No. 2020-265-E, Order No. 2021-390. Effective January 1, 2026. Accessed July 9, 2026.
- Dominion Energy South Carolina, Inc. Rate PR-1: Small Power Production, Cogeneration. Electric cogeneration and standby rate schedule for qualifying facilities. Effective for bills rendered on and after the first billing cycle of January 2026. Accessed July 9, 2026.
- Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC. Schedule R-STOU: Residential Service, Solar Time-of-Use. South Carolina Eleventh Revised Leaf No. 16; Public Service Commission of South Carolina Docket No. 2025-172-E, Order No. 2025-769. Effective March 1, 2026. Accessed July 9, 2026.
