Solar by state
Solar in Iowa, by the numbers
Utilities and their rates, adoption, ten years of growth, batteries, ownership, state rules and installer licensing in Iowa, from federal 2024 data.
Iowa in brief
1.13% of Iowa homes had rooftop solar in 2024, the 21st-lowest of 51 (3.55% nationally). Power cost 13.40¢/kWh, below the national 16.48¢, and the average system was 8.33 kW. MidAmerican Energy Company serves 43.7% of homes.
Where does Iowa stand out?
The four measures, beyond price and adoption, on which Iowa sits furthest from the middle of the ranking.
Iowa solar in numbers, 2024
Every Iowa figure next to the national one, with its place in the ranking (highest first, out of the jurisdictions reporting it).
| Measure | Iowa | United States | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes with a metered rooftop system | 1.13% | 3.55% | 21st-lowest of 51 |
| Rooftop systems counted | 16,392 | 5,077,543 | 17th-lowest of 51 |
| Average system size | 8.33 kW | 6.74 kW | 10th-highest of 51 |
| Residential price | 13.40¢/kWh | 16.48¢/kWh | 16th-lowest of 51 |
| Average monthly bill | $111.54 | $142.26 | 11th-lowest of 51 |
| Use per home | 9,987 kWh/yr | 10,359 kWh/yr | 21st-lowest of 51 |
| Systems with a battery | 0.13% | 5.86% | 7th-lowest of 47 |
| Leased or on a PPA | Not reported | 29.1% | No figure |
| Growth in systems, five years | 30.1% a year | — | 17th-highest of 51 |
| Minutes without power per customer | 200 | 297 (median state) | 16th-lowest of 51 |
| Homes on a time-varying rate | 6.0% | 11.1% | 14th-highest of 51 |
| Installed rooftop capacity | 136.5 MW | 34,226 MW | — |
Source: US EIA, Form EIA-861, 2024 final release, retrieved 2 September 2026. The Iowa ratios and ranks are HyreSolar calculations from EIA inputs.
Which utility serves Iowa, and what does it charge?
The 8 largest utilities selling to Iowa 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MidAmerican Energy Company | Investor-owned | 632,436 (43.7%) | 11.01¢ | 791 kWh | 4,482 (0.71%) |
| Interstate Power and Light Company | Investor-owned | 417,153 (28.8%) | 17.90¢ | 714 kWh | 10,120 (2.4%) |
| Linn County REC | Co-op | 30,323 (2.1%) | 14.23¢ | 850 kWh | 638 (2.1%) |
| City of Ames | Municipal | 24,979 (1.7%) | 12.10¢ | 570 kWh | 210 (0.84%) |
| Eastern Iowa Light & Power Co-op | Co-op | 20,749 (1.4%) | 13.56¢ | 1,134 kWh | 298 (1.4%) |
| Cedar Falls Utilities | Municipal | 17,772 (1.2%) | 10.42¢ | 786 kWh | 72 (0.41%) |
| Midland Power Co-op | Co-op | 11,939 (0.82%) | 13.60¢ | 1,407 kWh | 18 (0.15%) |
| Maquoketa Valley Rrl Electric Co-op | Co-op | 11,051 (0.76%) | 13.76¢ | 1,059 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 1,448,818 Iowa residential accounts. Each Iowa 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 Iowa utility figures mean for a solar quote?
EIA-861 lists 24 utilities serving homes in Iowa in 2024, across 1,448,818 residential accounts. The three largest, MidAmerican Energy Company, Interstate Power and Light Company and Linn County REC, served 74.5% of those homes. By ownership: investor-owned utilities 72.5%, small utilities EIA counts as a group 14.2%, electric cooperatives 9.3% and municipal utilities 4.1%.
All 1,448,818 Iowa residential accounts bought energy from the utility that delivers it; EIA counted none on a competitive supplier. So a Iowa utility’s own tariff sets both the price you avoid and the credit for what you export.
MidAmerican Energy Company, the largest, served 632,436 Iowa homes (43.7%). Its full-service residential customers paid 11.01¢ per kWh, below the Iowa average of 13.40¢, and used 791 kWh a month on average. 4,482 of its customers ran net-metered rooftop solar, 0.71% of its homes against 1.13% statewide.
Among the 15 Iowa utilities with at least 5,000 residential customers and a full-service price, the price ran from 9.26¢ at North West Rural Electric Co-op to 17.90¢ at Interstate Power and Light Company.
At the Iowa average of 9,987 kWh a year, that 8.64¢ gap is worth about $863 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 13.40¢ Iowa average.
Rooftop solar is concentrated: Interstate Power and Light Company alone accounts for 10,120 net-metered residential systems, about 62% of the 16,392 counted in Iowa, and 19 Iowa utilities reported any at all.
What does power cost in Iowa, and why does it matter?
Residential electricity in Iowa averaged 13.40¢ per kilowatt-hour in 2024, the 16th-lowest of 51 and below the national 16.48¢. Retail power in Iowa is cheaper than in 35 of the other 50 jurisdictions. Each kilowatt-hour a system avoids is worth less, which lengthens payback.
The average Iowa household bill was $111.54 a month ($1,338 a year), the 11th-lowest of 51, against $142.26 nationally. That $1,338 is the ceiling on what solar could save a typical Iowa home, before fixed monthly charges.
Only 6.0% of Iowa homes were on a time-varying rate in 2024 (11.1% nationally), so a flat rate is the likely starting point. 45.9% of Iowa residential meters were smart meters (83.8% nationally), and a time-varying rate needs one. How time-of-use changes solar.
How many Iowa homes have solar?
Iowa had 16,392 rooftop systems on net metering in 2024, across 1,448,818 residential accounts: 1.13% of homes, the 21st-lowest of 51. Adoption in Iowa sits in the middle of the 51: neither an early market nor a late one.
The Iowa market counted 2,488 more systems in 2024 than in 2023 and has grown 30.1% a year over five years, the 17th-highest of 51. Where growth has turned nationally.
How has Iowa solar changed since 2014?
Iowa counted 880 net-metered rooftop systems in 2014 and 16,392 in 2024, 18.6 times as many. The share of homes with one moved from 0.07% to 1.13%. The biggest one-year addition came in 2023, with 3,795 more systems than the year before.
| Year | Rooftop systems | Share of homes | Average size | Residential price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 880 | 0.07% | 9.5 kW | 11.16¢ |
| 2016 | 1,808 | 0.13% | 8.0 kW | 11.94¢ |
| 2018 | 3,313 | 0.24% | 8.4 kW | 12.24¢ |
| 2020 | 5,361 | 0.38% | 8.5 kW | 12.46¢ |
| 2022 | 10,109 | 0.71% | 8.5 kW | 13.15¢ |
| 2024 | 16,392 | 1.13% | 8.3 kW | 13.40¢ |
Source: US EIA, Form EIA-861 annual files 2014–2024, net-metered residential systems, retrieved 2 September 2026. Iowa shares and sizes are HyreSolar calculations.
What does the Iowa trend mean for a savings estimate?
Over the same years the Iowa residential price went from 11.16¢ to 13.40¢ per kWh, up 20%, and the average system from 9.5 kW to 8.3 kW. With Iowa prices up 20% across ten years, a savings estimate that assumes steep yearly rate rises is assuming more than this record shows.
How big is a typical Iowa system?
The average Iowa system was 8.33 kW in 2024, the 10th-highest of 51, against 6.74 kW nationally. Iowa homes used 9,987 kilowatt-hours a year each, the 21st-lowest of 51.
A Iowa home using 9,987 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 Iowa?
Form EIA-861 reports no third-party-ownership split for the 16,392 systems counted in Iowa in 2024, so we publish none rather than infer one.
Ask any Iowa company in writing whether it is selling you the system or a lease or power purchase agreement; the owner of a Iowa system is the one who claims any tax credit.
Do Iowa homes add batteries?
In Iowa, 0.13% of solar systems were paired with a battery in 2024 (22 systems), the 7th-lowest of 47. Iowa’s share is well under half the national 5.86%.
On reliability, the average Iowa customer went 200 minutes without power in 2024 counting major storms, and 84 minutes without them. The median state saw 297. Outages in every state.
Whether a battery pays in Iowa 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 Iowa?
We found no dedicated state register for solar work in Iowa, 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 16,392 systems in Iowa, 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 Iowa on adoption?
The six jurisdictions nearest to Iowa’s 1.13% share of homes with rooftop solar.
Where do the Iowa numbers come from?
The Iowa figures are HyreSolar calculations from the Form EIA-861 annual files: 16,392 net-metered residential systems counted against 1,448,818 residential accounts, sizes as means, and 24 utility-level rows for the utility table, matched to net-metering records by EIA utility number.
The method and limits cover all 51; the Iowa row is in the data as a CSV.
No Iowa figure here is an estimate for one home: your roof, usage, utility tariff and tax position decide that.
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Questions
How many homes in Iowa have solar?
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Do Iowa homeowners add batteries to solar?
Is Iowa a good state for solar?
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