Wisconsin 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 | Wisconsin | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Households with a metered rooftop system18,581 systems across 2,843,874 residential accounts | 0.65% | 38th of 51 |
| Average system sizeNational average 6.74 kW | 7.24 kW | 30th of 51 |
| Residential priceDerived average across the state, not a tariff | 17.18¢/kWh | 16th of 51 |
| Consumption per accountWhat a system here is typically sized against | 7,742 kWh/yr | 40th of 51 |
| Systems with a battery287 paired systems | 1.54% | 26th of 51 |
| Third-party ownedLeased or under a power purchase agreement | — | 44th of 51 |
| Five-year growth3,237 systems added in 2024 | 28.9%/yr | 19th of 51 |
| Installed capacityResidential net-metered capacity | 134.6 MW | — |
What the adoption figure means
A thin market. Fewer installers cover it, quotes take longer to assemble, and comparison is harder simply because there is less to compare.
Residential electricity in Wisconsin averaged 17.18¢ per kilowatt-hour in 2024, 16th of 51 and above the national average of 16.48¢. Retail prices sit above the national middle, which tilts the arithmetic toward using production on site rather than exporting it. Prices and adoption across all 51.
System size and consumption
The average Wisconsin system was 7.24 kW in 2024, ranking 30th of 51. Households consumed an average of 7,742 kilowatt-hours a year (40th 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
Form EIA-861 records no third-party-ownership split for the 18,581 systems counted in Wisconsin in 2024. With a market this size the schedule frequently suppresses the split, so we publish nothing rather than infer it. Ask any company directly whether it is selling you ownership or a lease or PPA — the distinction decides who claims the incentives.
Battery attachment
1.54% of Wisconsin solar systems were paired with a battery in 2024, 26th of 51 — 287 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
Wisconsin added 3,237 systems in 2024 and has grown at 28.9% a year over five years, 19th of 51. Where growth has turned.
Solar companies and licensing in Wisconsin
We checked 58 Wisconsin solar companies against the state licence register. 29.3% did not hold a current licence at the time of checking — 17 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 Wisconsin have solar?
18,581 residential net-metered systems were recorded in Wisconsin in 2024, against 2,843,874 residential electricity accounts — 0.65% of households, 38th of 51 jurisdictions. That is a HyreSolar calculation from Form EIA-861.
What size solar system is typical in Wisconsin?
The average net-metered residential system in Wisconsin was 7.24 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 Wisconsin add batteries to solar?
1.54% of Wisconsin systems were paired with storage in 2024, 26th of 51. Battery attachment tracks outage frequency and export rules more than it tracks sunshine.
Is Wisconsin a good state for solar?
On the measures we can compute: residential electricity averages 17.18¢/kWh (16th of 51), households use 7,742 kWh a year (40th of 51), and 0.65% have installed a system (38th 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.