Solar Panel Cost in Mississippi (2026 Estimate)

BySunMetricLab Editorial Team·Independent solar research and calculators

Data last updated September 10, 2026 · ranks #28 of 50 states for modeled payback

Mississippi averages about 4.6 peak sun hours a day (about average for the US) with an approximate residential electricity rate near 13¢/kWh, on the lower end nationally. In the model used here, an 8 kW system in Mississippi produces roughly 10,750 kWh a year and trims about $1,400 off annual electricity costs, paying back its net cost in about 10.8 years. That is a middle-of-the-pack payback, so whether solar is worth it in Mississippi often comes down to your specific rate, roof, and any state or utility incentives.

Estimated system cost and payback in Mississippi

Costs assume roughly $2.70/watt installed for Mississippi; the net column applies a 30% federal credit for comparison with quotes that include it. Savings and payback use the state's sun hours and rate above.

The 30% federal Residential Clean Energy Credit ended for systems paid for after December 31, 2025 under the 2025 federal budget law. Net-after-credit figures apply only if you still qualify (for example a 2025 expenditure, or a leased system where the installer passes a credit through). Confirm with a tax professional.

What moves the numbers in Mississippi

Two inputs drive most of the difference between states: how much sun a system sees and what each offset kilowatt-hour is worth. Mississippi's 4.6 sun hours set production, and its roughly 13¢/kWh rate sets what that production saves. The bigger unknowns are your roof, shading, and how your utility compensates exported power, since a lower export rate can pull real savings below the retail-rate figure above.

Net metering and export credits in Mississippi

Mississippi does not offer retail-rate net metering. Under the Public Service Commission rules first adopted in 2015 and revised in 2022, Entergy Mississippi and Mississippi Power credit exported energy at the utility avoided cost plus a fixed adder per kilowatt-hour, and the adder is larger for income-qualified customers. Because avoided cost is a wholesale-type figure, an exported kilowatt-hour is worth substantially less than one you would have bought, so self-consumption drives most of the savings.

The 2022 revisions added an upfront cash benefit for early residential participants, with a larger amount for low-income households, subject to enrollment limits that may already be exhausted, so ask the utility whether that benefit is still available. Electric cooperatives, which serve a large share of the state, and the northern counties supplied through TVA are outside these rules and set their own distributed generation terms.

Mississippi solar incentives beyond the federal credit

There is no Mississippi state tax credit, sales tax exemption or property tax exemption for home solar as of 2026, and the state has not funded a residential rebate. The low-income adder and the early-adopter benefit inside the net metering rule are the only state-driven sweeteners, and both apply solely to Entergy Mississippi and Mississippi Power customers.

For everyone else the federal investment tax credit is the whole incentive stack, so the financial case leans on inexpensive installation pricing, high summer air-conditioning loads that a rooftop array offsets directly, and rising utility rates. A battery paired with the system can raise savings by shifting exported energy into evening self-use, though it also adds cost that the state does nothing to offset.

Utilities and rate plans in Mississippi

Entergy Mississippi supplies the western half of the state including Jackson, Mississippi Power covers the Gulf Coast and southeast, and 25 electric cooperatives (many supplied by Cooperative Energy, others by TVA) serve most rural areas. Residential rates are below the national average, which stretches payback periods compared with the Northeast, but bills are still large because summer usage is heavy. Neither investor-owned utility defaults residential customers to time-of-use pricing, so a flat rate plus avoided-cost export credit is the normal arrangement, and your savings scale with how much of the daytime output you use inside the house.