Pennsylvania solar in numbers, 2024
Every figure below is computed by us from the Form EIA-861 annual files. Ranks are out of 51 jurisdictions, highest first.
| Measure | Pennsylvania | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Households with a metered rooftop system81,375 systems across 5,534,580 residential accounts | 1.47% | 28th of 51 |
| Average system sizeNational average 6.74 kW | 8 kW | 15th of 51 |
| Residential priceDerived average across the state, not a tariff | 17.77¢/kWh | 14th of 51 |
| Consumption per accountWhat a system here is typically sized against | 9,806 kWh/yr | 32nd of 51 |
| Systems with a battery1,298 paired systems | 1.60% | 25th of 51 |
| Third-party ownedLeased or under a power purchase agreement | 31.8% | 12th of 51 |
| Five-year growth13,009 systems added in 2024 | 23.7%/yr | 27th of 51 |
| Installed capacityResidential net-metered capacity | 651.3 MW | — |
What the adoption figure means
A middling market — neither early nor late. Expect a reasonable choice of installers without the depth of the coastal markets.
Residential electricity in Pennsylvania averaged 17.77¢ per kilowatt-hour in 2024, 14th of 51 and above the national average of 16.48¢. Electricity here is dear by national standards, so self-consumption carries more value than it does in most of the country. Prices and adoption across all 51.
System size and consumption
The average Pennsylvania system was 8 kW in 2024, ranking 15th of 51. Households consumed an average of 9,806 kilowatt-hours a year (32nd of 51) — the figure a system here is sized against.
Size your own system from your own kilowatt-hours, not from this average — how to do that.
Who owns the systems
31.8% of Pennsylvania systems were third-party owned in 2024 — leased or under a power purchase agreement rather than owned by the householder. That is 12th of 51.
Third-party ownership is the dominant model, so expect a lease or PPA to be the first thing you are offered. Who claims the federal credit · ownership across all 51.
Battery attachment
1.60% of Pennsylvania solar systems were paired with a battery in 2024, 25th of 51 — 1,298 paired systems.
Attachment is around the middle — storage is a live option here rather than a default. Attachment across all 51 · does a battery belong in your project.
Where the market is going
Pennsylvania added 13,009 systems in 2024 and has grown at 23.7% a year over five years, 27th of 51. Where growth has turned.
Solar companies and licensing in Pennsylvania
We checked 19 Pennsylvania solar companies against the state licence register. 26.3% did not hold a current licence at the time of checking — 5 expired.
How to verify a licence before you sign.
Method
Figures are computed by HyreSolar from the Form EIA-861 2024 annual files — net-metered residential systems only, penetration counted against residential accounts, sizes as means. EIA publishes the inputs, not these ratios. Full methodology and the underlying CSV.
None of these figures is an estimate for your property. What to work through before you talk to anyone.
Common questions
How many homes in Pennsylvania have solar?
81,375 residential net-metered systems were recorded in Pennsylvania in 2024, against 5,534,580 residential electricity accounts — 1.47% of households, 28th of 51 jurisdictions. That is a HyreSolar calculation from Form EIA-861.
What size solar system is typical in Pennsylvania?
The average net-metered residential system in Pennsylvania was 8 kW in 2024, against a national average of 6.74 kW. Your own system should be sized from twelve months of your kilowatt-hours and your usable roof, not from a state average.
Do people in Pennsylvania add batteries to solar?
1.60% of Pennsylvania systems were paired with storage in 2024, 25th of 51. Battery attachment tracks outage frequency and export rules more than it tracks sunshine.
Is Pennsylvania a good state for solar?
On the measures we can compute: residential electricity averages 17.77¢/kWh (14th of 51), households use 9,806 kWh a year (32nd of 51), and 1.47% have installed a system (28th of 51). Retail price and export rules move the answer far more than sunshine does, and both are set by your specific utility rather than by the state.
Source: US EIA, Form EIA-861, 2024 final release, retrieved 2 September 2026. Figures marked as a HyreSolar calculation are derived by us and are not official EIA statistics.