Solar Panel Cost in Baltimore, MD 2026: ~11.8-Year Payback
In Baltimore, MD, an 8 kW system at $2.62/W produces about 1,343 kWh per kW and pays back in roughly 11.8 years at 17.91¢/kWh with the federal credit at $0.
· Source: EIA Electric Power Monthly Table 5.6.A (July 2026 data) · next EIA update ~Oct 23
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- Baltimore production
- 1,343 kWh/kW/yr
- Maryland average
- 1,280 kWh/kW/yr
- Electricity rate
- 21.4¢/kWh
- 8 kW installed cost
- ~$20,960
- 2026 federal credit
- $0
- Payback (utility math)
- 11.8 years
Why this number
A kilowatt of panels in Baltimore produces about 1,343 kWh a year — the only Maryland city with its own modeled figure, so the useful comparison is against the statewide 1,280 kWh per kW band rather than another city. On an 8 kW system that is a payback of about 9.9 years at 21.41¢/kWh.
What sets Baltimore apart
BGE territory; five-point cluster around the harbor.
Your utility, officially
Maryland’s average residential rate is 21.4¢/kWh, but the bill in Baltimore comes from BGE at 17.91¢ — 16% below the state figure. These are the residential figures Baltimore’s utility reported to the U.S. Energy Information Administration on Form EIA-861 for 2024 — computed as revenue ÷ sales from the official file, not estimated:
| Utility | EIA ID | Residential avg price | Residential customers | Net-metering (residential, self-reported) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BGE | 1167 | 17.91¢/kWh | 1,025,745 | 47527 customers / 370.779 MW |
How exports are treated matters as much as the headline price: BGE is modeled here under the state’s full-retail net metering rules, and that treatment is baked into every payback figure on this page.
Baltimore bills come from Baltimore Gas & Electric — BGE, investor-owned, 1,025,745 residential customers in the 2024 EIA-861 data — at a bundled residential average of 17.91¢/kWh. Maryland has retail choice, so the standard caution applies: that is the default-service average, and if you buy generation from a competitive supplier, your contract rate is the one to put in the calculator. The sun, at least, is unambiguous: PVGIS models Baltimore at 1,343 kWh per kW per year from a five-point cluster around the harbor — the best yield of the six Mid-Atlantic and Midwest cities in this wave, comfortably ahead of Philadelphia’s 1,320 and a world away from Pittsburgh’s 1,186.
What sets Baltimore apart is that people here have already done the math, at scale. BGE’s 2024 filing counts 47,527 residential net-metered customers and 370.779 MW — about one home in 22, averaging 7.8 kW per system, one of the largest residential solar fleets of any utility in our dataset. That did not happen by accident. Maryland is a full-retail net-metering state, it has an active SREC market, a 6% sales-tax exemption on the system, and — unusually in 2026 — actual state cash: the Maryland Solar Access Program pays a $7,500 income-qualified grant. The FY27 round opened July 29, 2026 with a $10 million budget, and as of August 24 only 0.73% had been claimed, so funds are unusually available; income caps run from $136,785 for a single person to $195,375 for a household of four. (The old $1,000 Residential Clean Energy Rebate closed to PV in November 2024 — ignore any pitch that mentions it.) Installed cost averages $2.62 per watt; property-tax exemption exists in some counties only, so check yours.
The caveat is about the future of the crediting, not the present. Maryland’s HB 1532 directs the PSC to design a successor to net metering, with an effective date our data records as July 1, 2026, held at medium confidence: net-metering enrollment will close at some future point, and the successor export credit is not yet defined. Systems interconnected under the current rules are one thing; if you are quoted terms that assume today’s full-retail crediting lasts forever, ask the installer to show you where that guarantee comes from, because we cannot find one. Between the 17.91¢ rate, the 1,343 yield, the grant money sitting unclaimed, and a crediting regime that is generous now and undefined later, the honest summary is: Baltimore’s numbers work today, and today is doing more of the work than usual.
Source: EIA Form EIA-861, 2024 final release , accessed 2026-09-02. Average price is total residential revenue divided by total residential sales for the year — your own rate depends on your tariff and usage tier.
An 8 kW system in Baltimore, priced out
| Metric | Estimate for Baltimore | Maryland statewide |
|---|---|---|
| Production, unshaded 20° south | 1,343 kWh per kW/yr | 1,280 kWh per kW/yr |
| 8 kW output after a 10% roof derate | ~9,670 kWh/yr | ~9,216 kWh/yr |
| Average residential rate | 21.4¢/kWh (EIA) | 21.4¢/kWh |
| Installed cost, 8 kW | ~$20,960 at $2.62/watt | ~$20,960 |
| 2026 federal credit | $0 | $0 |
| Export rule | Full-retail net metering | Full-retail net metering |
| Export credit modeled | retail (21.4¢/kWh) | retail (21.4¢/kWh) |
| Annual value of that output | ~$2,070 | ~$1,973 |
| Rough payback (your utility) | 11.8 years | 10.4 years (state-average model) |
| 25-year net position | $39,495 | — |
Only the first two rows differ. Everything financial — rate, tariff, price per watt — is inherited from Maryland without change, which is the point: a city page that quietly used a different electricity rate from its state page would be guessing, not measuring.
Doing nothing is not free either. Twenty-five years of the electricity an 8 kW Baltimore array would produce, with rates rising at 2.5% a year, comes to roughly $70,707.
Not sure solar is the right move yet? The should-I-go-solar screener asks the four questions that matter before you get a quote.
Run it with your own bill
Shared methodology · identical on every city page
- Production figures are unshaded, south-facing, 20° PVGIS values. A real roof — its own pitch, orientation, a tree or a chimney — typically produces 10–25% less; every payback here already carries a 10% real-roof derate.
- Paybacks include $150/yr of running costs and one $2,000 inverter replacement in year 14, which is why they run longer than paybacks quoted elsewhere.
- State export rules cover investor-owned, state-regulated utilities. Municipal utilities and rural electric cooperatives are exempt in most states and set their own terms.
- Installed cost is the state-level EnergySage market figure, not a city quote; a swing of 50¢/W moves payback by roughly a year and a half either way. Get three quotes before trusting any payback — including ours.
Baltimore against the rest of Maryland
Baltimore is the only Maryland city with its own modeled figure, so there is no in-state comparison to draw yet. The statewide band on the Maryland page is the wider context.
What Maryland pays Baltimore for exported power
Maryland credits exported power at the retail rate under Net metering; successor program mandated by HB 1532 , in force since 2026-07-01, so a kilowatt-hour a Baltimore array sends to the grid is worth the same as one you buy. That is the best case for solar economics and it is why the payback above is what it is.
It is also the assumption most likely to change. Twenty-two states have already moved to net billing. If Maryland did the same on typical terms, this system would take about 17.6 years instead of 11.8 — 5.8 years’ difference from a policy change, with no change to the hardware and none to Baltimore’s weather.
HB 1532 directs the PSC to design a successor program. Net-metering enrolment will close in future and the successor export credit is not yet defined.
Sources and method
- Production: modeled with PVGIS v5.2 PVcalc (European Commission JRC) using the PVGIS-NSRDB radiation database — the same NREL satellite dataset PVWatts draws on for the Americas. Assumptions: 4 kWp, standard c-Si, 14% system loss, roof mounting, 20-degree tilt, due south, horizon shading on. The 1,343 kWh per kW figure for Baltimore is a modeled location point, not an interpolation from the Maryland average. PVGIS is free to use with JRC attribution requested; the underlying NSRDB is public domain (NREL/DOE).
- Real-roof derate: a separate 10% deduction for azimuth, pitch and shading, applied in the shared model rather than folded into the production data — so you can adjust it if your roof is genuinely unobstructed.
- Electricity rate: U.S. Energy Information Administration, average price by state . This is Maryland’s residential average; EIA does not publish a Baltimore figure, so the state rate is used and labeled as such.
- Export rules: Net metering; successor program mandated by HB 1532 , from our Maryland state page and the shared export-rules dataset behind it.
- State average rate: EIA Table 5.6.A, July 2026 data (released Sep 2026), used for every state-average comparison on this page.
- Payback model: shared with the solar savings calculator and the state pages — 2.5%/yr utility inflation, 0.5%/yr degradation, $150/yr running costs, one $2,000 inverter replacement in year 14, federal credit $0. The rest of the toolset — battery, sizing, financing — is under all calculators .
- Incentives: DSIRE . City and utility programs change more often than state ones — check yours directly.
Electricity rate, export regime, production figure and installed cost on this page were last verified on 30 August 2026. Export credits reset on annual tariff cycles and incentive budgets run out mid-year, so treat every figure as a snapshot at that date and confirm current terms before acting. Nothing here is tax or financial advice.
Frequently asked questions
How much do solar panels cost in Baltimore in 2026?
About $20,960 for a typical 8 kW system at $2.62 per watt, before any incentive. With the federal credit at $0 in 2026 that is close to your net cost. Note that the price per watt is a Maryland market average — there is no reliable city-level cost data, so treat it as a starting point and get three quotes.
What is the solar payback in Baltimore?
Roughly 11.8 years on this model, using Baltimore’s own production figure of 1,343 kWh per kW and its own utility tariff (17.91¢/kWh) with each utility’s real export treatment. That includes $150 a year of running costs and one inverter replacement, which many published paybacks leave out.
Is Baltimore better or worse for solar than the rest of Maryland?
Against the state figure, Baltimore runs 4.9% above Maryland’s 1,280 kWh per kW — a payback 1.4 years longer than the statewide 10.4-year estimate on the same hardware at the same price.
Is solar worth it in Baltimore in 2026?
At 21.41¢/kWh and 1,343 kWh per kW, an 8 kW system in Baltimore pays back in about 9.9 years on this model. Treat that as a starting point for reading real quotes rather than as a quote: your roof’s orientation, its shading and the price you are actually offered will move it more than your city does.
How we calculated this
Year-1 saving = production (kW × the city’s modeled kWh per kW) × the blended kWh value (retail rate for self-use, the state export rule for exports). Payback = net cost ÷ year-1 saving, with the federal credit at $0 for 2026 purchases and cost per watt from the state’s installed-price band. Production is modeled from PVGIS/NSRDB irradiance for the city.Sources: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) electricity rates · DSIRE incentive records · public IRS/OBBBA guidance. Figures are modeled estimates, not quotes or tax advice. See our methodology.
Compare with the rest of Maryland
- Solar panel cost in Maryland — The statewide picture: Maryland’s rate, incentives, export rules and the 1,280 kWh per kW average this page corrects.
- Solar panel cost in Nashville — 1,340 kWh per kW in Tennessee — the closest production match to Baltimore in our data.
- Solar panel cost in Yakima — 1,320 kWh per kW in Washington — the closest production match to Baltimore in our data.
- Solar panel cost in Philadelphia — 1,320 kWh per kW in Pennsylvania — the closest production match to Baltimore in our data.
- All city solar figures — The 66 US cities with their own modeled production data, and the spreads between them.