Solar by state
Solar in Alabama, by the numbers
Utilities and their rates, adoption, ten years of growth, batteries, ownership, state rules and installer licensing in Alabama, from federal 2024 data.
Alabama in brief
under 0.01% of Alabama homes had rooftop solar in 2024, the 2nd-lowest of 51 (3.55% nationally). Power cost 15.18¢/kWh, below the national 16.48¢, and the average system was 11.45 kW. Alabama Power Company serves 55.6% of homes.
Where does Alabama stand out?
The four measures, beyond price and adoption, on which Alabama sits furthest from the middle of the ranking.
Alabama solar in numbers, 2024
Every Alabama figure next to the national one, with its place in the ranking (highest first, out of the jurisdictions reporting it).
| Measure | Alabama | United States | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes with a metered rooftop system | under 0.01% | 3.55% | 2nd-lowest of 51 |
| Rooftop systems counted | 76 | 5,077,543 | lowest of 51 |
| Average system size | 11.45 kW | 6.74 kW | 2nd-highest of 51 |
| Residential price | 15.18¢/kWh | 16.48¢/kWh | 21st-highest of 51 |
| Average monthly bill | $173.50 | $142.26 | 3rd-highest of 51 |
| Use per home | 13,718 kWh/yr | 10,359 kWh/yr | 4th-highest of 51 |
| Systems with a battery | Not reported | 5.86% | No figure |
| Leased or on a PPA | Not reported | 29.1% | No figure |
| Growth in systems, five years | 20.4% a year | — | 16th-lowest of 51 |
| Minutes without power per customer | 198 | 297 (median state) | 15th-lowest of 51 |
| Homes on a time-varying rate | 0.20% | 11.1% | 9th-lowest of 51 |
| Installed rooftop capacity | 0.9 MW | 34,226 MW | — |
Source: US EIA, Form EIA-861, 2024 final release, retrieved 2 September 2026. The Alabama ratios and ranks are HyreSolar calculations from EIA inputs.
Which utility serves Alabama, and what does it charge?
The 8 largest utilities selling to Alabama homes, by residential customers, with the price full-service customers paid and how many run net-metered solar.
| Utility | Type | Homes served | Price per kWh | Use per home, monthly | Net-metered systems |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama Power Company | Investor-owned | 1,332,911 (55.6%) | 16.77¢ | 1,129 kWh | None reported |
| City of Huntsville | Municipal | 197,537 (8.2%) | 11.45¢ | 1,173 kWh | None reported |
| Baldwin County El Member Corporation | Co-op | 83,005 (3.5%) | 13.87¢ | 1,126 kWh | None reported |
| City of Athens | Municipal | 50,985 (2.1%) | 12.24¢ | 1,137 kWh | None reported |
| Foley Board of Utilities | Municipal | 50,954 (2.1%) | 13.48¢ | 1,236 kWh | 27 (0.05%) |
| Central Alabama Electric Co-op | Co-op | 45,036 (1.9%) | 16.64¢ | 1,164 kWh | 32 (0.07%) |
| City of Florence | Municipal | 41,594 (1.7%) | 11.61¢ | 1,273 kWh | None reported |
| Cullman Electric Co-op | Co-op | 39,779 (1.7%) | 13.26¢ | 1,239 kWh | None reported |
Source: US EIA, Form EIA-861 2024, Sales to Ultimate Customers and Net Metering, utility level, retrieved 5 October 2026. Shares are of 2,398,172 Alabama residential accounts. Each Alabama price is residential revenue divided by sales for full-service customers (HyreSolar calculation); a wires company’s price is its default-service price.
What do the Alabama utility figures mean for a solar quote?
EIA-861 lists 45 utilities serving homes in Alabama in 2024, across 2,398,172 residential accounts. The three largest, Alabama Power Company, City of Huntsville and Baldwin County El Member Corporation, served 67.3% of those homes. By ownership: investor-owned utilities 55.6%, electric cooperatives 21.1%, municipal utilities 20.7% and small utilities EIA counts as a group 2.6%.
All 2,398,172 Alabama residential accounts bought energy from the utility that delivers it; EIA counted none on a competitive supplier. So a Alabama utility’s own tariff sets both the price you avoid and the credit for what you export.
Alabama Power Company, the largest, served 1,332,911 Alabama homes (55.6%). Its full-service residential customers paid 16.77¢ per kWh, above the Alabama average of 15.18¢, and used 1,129 kWh a month on average.
EIA-861 lists no net-metered residential systems for Alabama Power Company in 2024, so ask it in writing how exported power is credited before sizing a system.
Among the 36 Alabama utilities with at least 5,000 residential customers and a full-service price, the price ran from 9.66¢ at City of Troy to 16.77¢ at Alabama Power Company.
At the Alabama average of 13,718 kWh a year, that 7.11¢ gap is worth about $975 a year (our arithmetic), so the same system offsets more money in one territory than the other.
Price a quote on your own utility’s rate, not the 15.18¢ Alabama average.
Rooftop solar is concentrated: Central Alabama Electric Co-op alone accounts for 32 net-metered residential systems, about 42% of the 76 counted in Alabama, and 5 Alabama utilities reported any at all.
What does power cost in Alabama, and why does it matter?
Residential electricity in Alabama averaged 15.18¢ per kilowatt-hour in 2024, the 21st-highest of 51 and below the national 16.48¢. The price sits above the middle of the 51, which tilts the arithmetic toward using production on site rather than exporting it.
The average Alabama household bill was $173.50 a month ($2,082 a year), the 3rd-highest of 51, against $142.26 nationally. That $2,082 is the ceiling on what solar could save a typical Alabama home, before fixed monthly charges.
Only 0.20% of Alabama homes were on a time-varying rate in 2024 (11.1% nationally), so a flat rate is the likely starting point. 92.9% of Alabama residential meters were smart meters (83.8% nationally), and a time-varying rate needs one. How time-of-use changes solar.
How many Alabama homes have solar?
Alabama had 76 rooftop systems on net metering in 2024, across 2,398,172 residential accounts: under 0.01% of homes, the 2nd-lowest of 51. Alabama is one of the least developed rooftop markets in the country. Expect few local installers and a permit office with little solar experience, and allow time for both.
The Alabama market counted 8 more systems in 2024 than in 2023 and has grown 20.4% a year over five years, the 16th-lowest of 51. Where growth has turned nationally.
How has Alabama solar changed since 2014?
Alabama counted 70 net-metered rooftop systems in 2014 and 76 in 2024, 9% more. The share of homes with one moved from under 0.01% to under 0.01%. The biggest one-year addition came in 2018, with 16 more systems than the year before.
| Year | Rooftop systems | Share of homes | Average size | Residential price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 70 | under 0.01% | 4.6 kW | 11.48¢ |
| 2016 | 14 | under 0.01% | 3.9 kW | 11.99¢ |
| 2018 | 28 | under 0.01% | 3.0 kW | 12.18¢ |
| 2020 | 33 | under 0.01% | 6.7 kW | 12.57¢ |
| 2022 | 53 | under 0.01% | 7.3 kW | 14.25¢ |
| 2024 | 76 | under 0.01% | 11.5 kW | 15.18¢ |
Source: US EIA, Form EIA-861 annual files 2014–2024, net-metered residential systems, retrieved 2 September 2026. Alabama shares and sizes are HyreSolar calculations.
What does the Alabama trend mean for a savings estimate?
Over the same years the Alabama residential price went from 11.48¢ to 15.18¢ per kWh, up 32%, and the average system from 4.6 kW to 11.5 kW. A rate that has risen that far makes a 2024 bill a conservative base for a Alabama savings estimate only if the trend continues, which nobody can promise.
How big is a typical Alabama system?
The average Alabama system was 11.45 kW in 2024, the 2nd-highest of 51, against 6.74 kW nationally. Alabama homes used 13,718 kilowatt-hours a year each, the 4th-highest of 51.
A Alabama home using 13,718 kWh is an average, not a design input: size from your own twelve months of bills and usable roof with cost by system size and the system size calculator.
Who owns the systems in Alabama?
Form EIA-861 reports no third-party-ownership split for the 76 systems counted in Alabama in 2024, so we publish none rather than infer one.
Ask any Alabama company in writing whether it is selling you the system or a lease or power purchase agreement; the owner of a Alabama system is the one who claims any tax credit.
Do Alabama homes add batteries?
Form EIA-861 recorded no battery-paired figure for Alabama’s 76 systems in 2024, so we cannot give an attachment rate.
On reliability, the average Alabama customer went 198 minutes without power in 2024 counting major storms, and 121 minutes without them. The median state saw 297. Outages in every state.
Whether storage pays in Alabama turns on your utility’s export credit and your own outage history: what a home battery does.
How do you check a solar company’s license in Alabama?
We found no dedicated state register for solar work in Alabama, so we publish no company counts. That is not evidence of light regulation: electrical work can be licensed at state or local level even where solar is never named.
With 76 systems in Alabama, the company quoting you may be based out of state. Ask which license it holds, in which state, and confirm it with that authority. What to do when the search comes back empty.
Which states are closest to Alabama on adoption?
The six jurisdictions nearest to Alabama’s under 0.01% share of homes with rooftop solar.
Where do the Alabama numbers come from?
The Alabama figures are HyreSolar calculations from the Form EIA-861 annual files: 76 net-metered residential systems counted against 2,398,172 residential accounts, sizes as means, and 45 utility-level rows for the utility table, matched to net-metering records by EIA utility number.
The method and limits cover all 51; the Alabama row is in the data as a CSV.
No Alabama figure here is an estimate for one home: your roof, usage, utility tariff and tax position decide that.
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Questions
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