Washington 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 | Washington | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Households with a metered rooftop system59,235 systems across 3,368,978 residential accounts | 1.76% | 24th of 51 |
| Average system sizeNational average 6.74 kW | 7.23 kW | 31st of 51 |
| Residential priceDerived average across the state, not a tariff | 11.90¢/kWh | 47th of 51 |
| Consumption per accountWhat a system here is typically sized against | 11,465 kWh/yr | 20th of 51 |
| Systems with a battery2,579 paired systems | 4.35% | 11th of 51 |
| Third-party ownedLeased or under a power purchase agreement | 0.2% | 33rd of 51 |
| Five-year growth8,471 systems added in 2024 | 20.5%/yr | 35th of 51 |
| Installed capacityResidential net-metered capacity | 428.0 MW | — |
What the adoption figure means
Adoption sits comfortably above the national middle, so there is generally a working installer market to choose between.
Residential electricity in Washington averaged 11.90¢ per kilowatt-hour in 2024, 47th of 51 and below the national average of 16.48¢. Among the cheapest residential electricity in the country. That is the most common reason solar struggles to pay back here, whatever the sunshine. Prices and adoption across all 51.
System size and consumption
The average Washington system was 7.23 kW in 2024, ranking 31st of 51. Households consumed an average of 11,465 kilowatt-hours a year (20th 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
0.2% of Washington systems were third-party owned in 2024 — leased or under a power purchase agreement rather than owned by the householder. That is 33rd of 51.
Ownership is genuinely mixed here — you are likely to be shown both purchase and third-party structures. Who claims the federal credit · ownership across all 51.
Battery attachment
4.35% of Washington solar systems were paired with a battery in 2024, 11th of 51 — 2,579 paired systems.
Attachment is well above average, so storage is a normal part of a quote here rather than an upsell. Attachment across all 51 · does a battery belong in your project.
Where the market is going
Washington added 8,471 systems in 2024 and has grown at 20.5% a year over five years, 35th of 51. Where growth has turned.
Solar companies and licensing in Washington
We checked 55 Washington solar companies against the state licence register. 0.0% did not hold a current licence at the time of checking .
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 Washington have solar?
59,235 residential net-metered systems were recorded in Washington in 2024, against 3,368,978 residential electricity accounts — 1.76% of households, 24th of 51 jurisdictions. That is a HyreSolar calculation from Form EIA-861.
What size solar system is typical in Washington?
The average net-metered residential system in Washington was 7.23 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 Washington add batteries to solar?
4.35% of Washington systems were paired with storage in 2024, 11th of 51. Battery attachment tracks outage frequency and export rules more than it tracks sunshine.
Is Washington a good state for solar?
On the measures we can compute: residential electricity averages 11.90¢/kWh (47th of 51), households use 11,465 kWh a year (20th of 51), and 1.76% have installed a system (24th 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.