Most addresses
Georgia Power
- Average home rate (2024)
- 15.49¢/kWh
- Paid for exported solar
- about 7.22¢ per kWh (a 3.2188¢ avoided-cost rate plus a 4¢ adder)
- Net-metered home solar, utility-wide
- 11,208
An honest answer · Savannah, GA
Is solar worth it in Savannah, GA?
Is solar worth it in Savannah? For a 9.5 kW system at about $24,605 making about 14,010 kWh a year on Georgia Power at an average 15.5¢ per kWh, it depends on how much you use at home.
The honest answer · as of August 2026
For some Savannah homes yes, for others no. Georgia Power credits exports at about 7.22¢ per kWh (a 3.2188¢ avoided-cost rate plus a 4¢ adder), so the deciding number is how much of the 14,010 kWh a 9.5 kW system makes here you use yourself. Half of Savannah homes are more than 55 years old, so the roof check matters here: a roof with under ten years left should be replaced before solar goes on, or at the same time.
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Local verdict
The honest read on Savannah
Savannah is a genuinely mixed market and the honest answer turns on two things: your canopy and your daytime occupancy. The live oak cover around the squares is among the heaviest of any city we work in, and it is protected, so a house under it can be a clear no however good the roof looks from the street. Fifteen minutes west, the newer open subdivisions in West Chatham are a different proposition on the same utility and the same tariff.
The occupancy half is where Georgia differs sharply from Virginia. With exports at roughly 7.22 cents against a retail rate near 13, a kilowatt-hour you use as you make it is worth close to twice one you send out. A household at home during the day, or willing to shift laundry, dishwashing and pool pumps into daylight, does well. A household out from eight to six that exports most of its production has a materially weaker case, and we would rather say that than sell around it.
The 10 kW AC cap is the third gate and it is absolute. If your usage genuinely needs more than that, solar alone will not cover it here and no amount of roof will change the answer. That is worth establishing in the first conversation rather than the fifth.
Written for Savannah specifically.
What changed
What changed in 2026, and what it does to payback
The federal homeowner credit ended on December 31, 2025. Georgia has no state credit, so the export terms carry the case.
What decides it
Four things decide whether solar pays in Savannah
What Georgia Power credits for exports, how much of your 14,010 kWh you use at home, your roof (the median Savannah home was built in 1971) and shade, and how long you will stay.
Two lists
Who solar suits in Savannah, and who it doesn't
Solar usually makes sense for your Savannah home if
- Your bill is at or above roughly $180 a month, what a 9.5 kW system here offsets at Georgia Power's average rate.
- Half of Savannah homes are more than 55 years old, so the roof check matters here: a roof with under ten years left should be replaced before solar goes on, or at the same time.
- Your best roof planes clear the shade: the squares and the streets around them carry some of the heaviest mature live oak canopy of any city we work in, and it is protected.
- You use power in daylight, when a 9.5 kW system here makes up to about 1,337 kWh a month.
- You plan to stay long enough to reach payback.
Solar is probably not right for you if
- Protected live oak canopy shades your best roof planes for much of the day, which is common on and around the squares.
- Your roof needs replacing within about five years.
- Your household is out during daylight and you do not want storage. Under a 7.22¢ export credit against a 13¢ retail rate, exporting most of your production is the weakest case in Georgia.
- You need more than 10 kW AC to cover your usage, because Georgia Power’s residential programme will not allow it.
- The only unshaded plane faces the street inside a historic district and the review body will not permit panels on it.
- You are being sold on a 30% federal credit: that quote is wrong.
Getting to a real answer
What a free assessment actually settles
For a Savannah address on Georgia Power, in Chatham County.
- Your actual utility and rateAround Savannah, Canoochee EMC serves parts of Chatham County outside the city, and the terms differ. This is not guesswork we can do from a map.
- Your real usage shapeFrom 12 months of Georgia Power bills, against the 14,010 kWh a typical system here makes.
- Roof condition and remaining lifeHalf of Savannah homes are more than 55 years old, so the roof check matters here: a roof with under ten years left should be replaced before solar goes on, or at the same time.
- Shade, measuredThe squares and the streets around them carry some of the heaviest mature live oak canopy of any city we work in, and it is protected.
- A right-sized designOur combined experience averages about 9.5 kW, against the 14.48 kW national calculators assume for this market.
- An honest recommendation, including noYour roof needs replacing within about five years.
Resale
Does solar add to a Savannah home's value?
The median owner-occupied home here is valued at about $225k. Owned systems generally help resale; leased ones need the buyer to take over the agreement.
Permits and approvals
What approval takes in Savannah
6 approvals for a Savannah system. We file every one.
- 01A building permit and a separate electrical permit
- 02A Certificate of Appropriateness before the work, where any exterior change is visible from the public right of way inside a historic district. This is separate from, and additional to, the building permit
- 03A pre-application conference with Metropolitan Planning Commission staff where the petition goes to a board rather than to staff review
- 04Permits from the City of Savannah for addresses inside city limits, or from the Chatham County Office of Building Safety and Regulatory Services for unincorporated addresses, which does not accept applications by fax or email
- 05An additional electrical permit where battery storage is included
- 06Interconnection approval from Georgia Power, whose residential renewable programme caps systems at 10 kW AC
Your utility decides payback
Is solar worth it in Savannah? Start with your utility
Georgia Power and Canoochee EMC split Savannah street by street. We read yours off your bill first.
Some addresses
Canoochee EMC
- Average home rate (2024)
- 13.98¢/kWh
- Paid for exported solar
- Set by the co-op; we confirm it per account
- Net-metered home solar, utility-wide
- 194
For comparison: Georgia average 14.08¢ · U.S. average 16.48¢. Georgia had 18,612 net-metered home solar systems at the end of 2024.
Rates: US EIA Form EIA-861, 2024 averages incl. fixed charges, not tariffs. Export terms as of August 2026.
Savannah sun, month by month
Is solar worth it in Savannah? What the panels make
About 14,010 kWh a year from a south-facing roof with no shade. May is the strongest month at about 1,337 kWh and December the weakest at about 903 kWh.
Your roof will differ. The squares and the streets around them carry some of the heaviest mature live oak canopy of any city we work in, and it is protected.
Estimate: NASA POWER sun data for Savannah, PVWatts model, south-facing, no shade.
Our work
Real systems our crews have installed
Our own job photos, not stock or renders. Coastal.
ResidentialDetached garage arrayFarmhouse-style home
ResidentialShingle rooftop arrayBackyard-facing slope
ResidentialClean rooftop layoutBlack-framed panels
ResidentialMulti-facet metal roofWooded aerial view
ResidentialFull black-on-blackPoolside single-story home
ResidentialStanding-seam metal roofLakeside multi-facet install
Photo locations are not published.
Free assessment · Savannah, GA
Get a straight answer for your Savannah roof
We read your bill, confirm your Georgia Power export terms, and tell you what your roof in Chatham County will actually carry, and say so if it will not pay.
- Most addresses here are on Georgia Power, but Canoochee EMC serves parts of Chatham County outside the city. We confirm yours from your bill before we quote anything
- A building permit and a separate electrical permit: we pull it and manage the inspections
- Savannah has two different historic review bodies and which one you face depends on your address.
Prefer to talk? (843) 310-1128
Savannah worth-it FAQ
The questions people actually ask us
Is solar worth it in Savannah, GA in 2026?
For some Savannah homes, yes. A 9.5 kW system here costs about $24,605 and makes about 14,010 kWh a year, worth roughly $180 a month of Georgia Power power at its average rate. Protected live oak canopy shades your best roof planes for much of the day, which is common on and around the squares.
Did solar get worse in Savannah after 2025?
Yes. The 30% federal homeowner credit ended on December 31, 2025. One-for-one netting is not available to new Georgia Power systems: its monthly netting pilot was capped at 5,000 customers and filled in 2021, so exports are credited at about 7.22¢ per kWh (a 3.2188¢ avoided-cost rate plus a 4¢ adder).
What electricity bill makes solar worth considering in Savannah?
A 9.5 kW system in Savannah offsets roughly $180 a month of Georgia Power power at its 15.5¢ average rate, if you use it all at home. A bill well under that leaves too little to offset; a bill above it, with daytime use, is worth modelling properly.
Is solar worth it if I am not home during the day?
It is a weaker case than it used to be. Under RNR Instantaneous Netting, exports credit at about 7.22¢ per kWh (a 3.2188¢ avoided-cost rate plus a 4¢ adder) against about 13¢ per kWh, so production you cannot use is worth a fraction of production you can. Shifting flexible loads into daylight, or adding storage, closes that gap. Without either, expect your bill to move less than you hoped.
Is solar worth it in Savannah on Georgia Power?
One-for-one netting is not available to new Georgia Power systems: its monthly netting pilot was capped at 5,000 customers and filled in 2021, so exports are credited at about 7.22¢ per kWh (a 3.2188¢ avoided-cost rate plus a 4¢ adder). Georgia Power households paid about 15.5¢ per kWh on average in 2024. The more of your 14,010 kWh a year you use at home, the better it pays.
Is solar worth it in Savannah if my roof is old?
Half of Savannah homes are more than 55 years old, so the roof check matters here: a roof with under ten years left should be replaced before solar goes on, or at the same time. Doing the roof first, or both together, avoids paying to remove and reinstall the panels later.
Is solar worth it in Savannah for a 9.5 kW system?
It costs about $24,605 and makes about 14,010 kWh a year here unshaded. Georgia Power households paid about 15.5¢ per kWh on average in 2024.
Free, no-pressure assessment
Get a straight answer for your Savannah home
We will confirm your utility, read your real usage, measure your shade and check your roof, then tell you honestly whether solar is worth it at your address. Including if the answer is no.
Mon–Sat, 10am–6:30pm ET · We typically follow up within the hour.