Rising energy bills? Here’s why 2026 is the year to go solar
Get your burning solar questions for 2026 answered
Have you noticed a spike in your electric bill lately [raises hand]? Or perhaps you’ve had the misfortune of visiting a gas station in the past month? The global energy market is complex, and things like global instability, aging grid infrastructure, and surging electricity demand from data centers and AI are combining to make your rates — for electricity, for gas, for home heating oil — skyrocket.
And it’s not just that prices are going up, it’s that they’re so volatile. It’s hard to budget when your energy bill could just jump without warning.
But what can you do about it? You can’t exactly negotiate a peace treaty or make data centers use less energy. Of course, there is one thing you can do to take control of your energy costs: Install solar.
And more and more homeowners are doing just that. According to Aurora Solar’s 2026 Solar Snapshot — our fourth annual research report surveying more than 1,100 homeowners and 600 solar professionals — 71% of American homeowners say they have at least some interest in solar. Why are they doing it? Utility bill savings and energy independence top the list; no surprise given those rising and volatile costs.
In this article, we’ll answer some of the most common questions we’re hearing from homeowners (and renters!) in 2026, and using our research we’ll talk about how the solar market is changing, what options are available, and what you need to know before getting panels up on your roof.
In this article:
- Why rising energy prices are making solar more urgent in 2026
- What do homeowners want from solar in 2026?
- Is solar a good hedge against rising energy costs?
- What financing options make solar affordable without federal tax credits?
- Can solar plus storage help me hedge against an unreliable grid?
- The Real Estate Trap: What if I don’t own a traditional home?
- How do I get started?
- Frequently asked questions
Why rising energy prices are making solar more urgent in 2026
Energy prices don’t move in a straight line — they spike, they stabilize, and they spike again. What’s different in 2026 is that the spikes are happening more frequently, driven by a combination of global supply disruptions, aging grid infrastructure, and surging electricity demand from data centers and AI computing. When oil and gas prices rise globally, the effects ripple into American electricity bills, gasoline prices, and household budgets faster than most people expect.
According to Aurora Solar’s 2026 Solar Snapshot, 53% of American homeowners already agree that the power grid is becoming less reliable — and that data was collected before the most recent round of energy price increases. Meanwhile, 62% say their area is impacted by extreme weather events.
The appeal of solar in this environment is straightforward: once you’ve installed a system, you’re generating your own electricity from sunlight. Rising oil prices, geopolitical instability, and grid stress don’t change what the sun does. You’re insulated from the volatility that’s driving everyone else’s bills up.
Aurora Solar’s own platform data, drawn from 20 million+ solar projects, shows that the national median price per watt for residential solar dropped almost 15% year-over-year between early 2025 and early 2026. The hardware has never cost less. The case for energy independence has rarely been stronger.
What do homeowners want from solar in 2026?
The first question you have to ask yourself when considering solar is, Why? Our 2026 Snapshot data shows the top motivations for homeowners interested in solar are:
- Utility bill savings — 87% of interested homeowners picked it as one of their top-three reasons
- Energy independence — cited by 72%, including backup power during outages
- Reducing environmental impact — 56%
And when gas prices spike and electricity bills climb? Those top two motivations get much more urgent.
What helps your fellow homeowners decide to install solar on their roof? Knowing the numbers. Our research found:
- 46% of active solar shoppers want clear visibility into total upfront costs and expected savings
- 36% want clear information about long-term ROI
If you’re considering solar, make sure you get multiple quotes, and don’t be afraid to insist on real monthly and lifetime savings estimates, based on real data. Other homeowners want the same thing, so installers that can’t provide that information may not be worth considering.
Is solar a good hedge against rising energy costs?
This is an easy one: Yes.
Solar protects you from rising electricity prices because you’re generating your own power rather than buying it from the grid at whatever rate your utility charges. When electricity rates go up — and they have risen an average of 2-3% per year historically, with larger spikes during periods of energy market stress — a solar system’s value increases alongside them. The higher the electricity rate, the faster your system pays for itself.
What solar obviously doesn’t directly protect you from is gasoline prices. For that, you need an electric vehicle — and increasingly, homeowners are pairing solar with EV charging so their transportation runs on sunlight too. According to our research, 71% of installers now offer EV charging equipment alongside solar installations.
What financing options can make solar affordable without federal tax credits?
Here’s something many homeowners don’t know: The residential solar federal tax credit (you’ll often hear it referred to as “Section 25D”) expired at the end of 2025. If you’ve been putting off solar because you were waiting for incentives, you may have missed that window — but you haven’t missed your chance to go solar affordably.
The commercial solar tax credit (you’ll hear this called “Section 48E”) is still in effect through at least 2027. It’s another way for you to take advantage of the tax credits, with a catch: It only applies to companies, not individual homeowners. But there’s a financing structure designed specifically to let you benefit from it anyway.
It’s called pre-paid TPO (third-party ownership), and here’s how it works:
- A solar financing company owns the system during an initial term, typically around six years
- Because they own it, they can claim the commercial 30% tax credit
- They pass those savings to you through a lower upfront cost
- After the initial term, you take ownership of the system — usually at no or low additional cost
The result? You get the economic benefit of the tax credit without owning the system outright during the initial period. Our research found that nearly half of homeowners think they can’t afford solar without the residential tax credit — but most of them don’t know this option exists.
TPO financing more broadly — including leases and power purchase agreements (PPAs) — is now the most popular financing structure in the industry. According to Aurora Solar’s 2026 Solar Snapshot, 55% of installers say TPO is now their most popular product, surpassing loans and cash purchases for the first time.
Can solar plus storage protect me from an unreliable grid?
If energy independence is part of why you’re considering solar, a battery changes the conversation significantly.
A solar-plus-storage system lets you store the energy your panels generate during the day and use it at night or during a grid outage. That means when the grid goes down — whether because of extreme weather, infrastructure failure, or supply disruptions affecting the broader energy system — your home keeps the lights on. (It’s important to note that if you don’t have a battery and the grid goes down, your solar panels also turn off to protect power workers.)
According to the 2026 Solar Snapshot:
- Only 17% of homeowners currently own a home backup battery
- Only 3% of solar-engaged homeowners say they’re not interested in storage — so, if you’re interested, you’re not alone
- 65% of homeowners cite reducing energy bills as the most valuable benefit of storage, while 55% value outage protection
The dual value of storage — saving money through time-of-use rates and providing backup power during outages — is what Aurora Solar calls the Resilience Stack: solar, storage, EV charging, and whole-home electrification working together as a complete energy independence system for your home.
Installers are taking notice. 31% of solar professionals expect more than 75% of their 2026 projects to include battery storage. If you’re getting solar quotes right now, it’s worth asking about storage in the same conversation.
The Real Estate Trap: What if I don’t own a traditional home?
One of the most striking findings in Aurora Solar’s 2026 Solar Snapshot is what we call the Real Estate Trap: The generations most interested in solar are increasingly locked out of homeownership — and therefore locked out of rooftop solar.
Aurora Solar’s research found that 27% of Gen Z homeowners and 18% of Millennial homeowners installed solar in the past year — the highest adoption rates of any generation. But Baby Boomers now represent 42% of all home buyers, according to the National Association of Realtors, and they’re the least likely demographic to install solar. The homes are concentrated in the group least likely to adopt the technology.
We’re probably not telling you anything you don’t know here, right? If you’re saving up for a home it can feel impossible. And if you are able to save up that down payment, it can seem like inventory is slim at best.
This is beyond frustrating, and it’s a small solace, but if you rent, live in a mobile home, or don’t have a roof that works for traditional solar panels, your options are expanding.
Balcony solar — plug-in solar panels that can be installed on a balcony, patio, or exterior wall — is emerging as a solution for households that don’t fit the traditional rooftop model. Community solar programs also let renters and others subscribe to a share of a solar farm’s output and receive credits on their electricity bills without any installation at their home.
Aurora Solar is expanding our consumer marketplace to include these options, specifically to make solar more accessible for everyone.
How do I get started?
If rising energy costs have you reconsidering solar, here are some important steps:
1. Get multiple quotes. Prices and installer quality vary, to say the least. According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), homeowners who shop and compare quotes through an online marketplace can save $1,000–$2,000 on a typical 5kW system compared to going with the first installer they find.
2. Ask about financing options. Make sure any installer you speak with can walk you through cash, loan, and TPO options — including pre-paid leases — and explain clearly how each affects your monthly costs and long-term savings.
3. Ask about storage. If energy independence or backup power matters to you, get a quote that includes battery storage. It could even increase your bill savings! The economics of solar-plus-storage have improved significantly, and many installers now include it as a standard part of their proposals.
4. Check your state incentives. While the federal residential tax credit has expired, many states still offer their own incentives, rebates, and net metering programs. These vary widely — what’s available in California looks very different from what’s available in Texas.
Ready to see what solar could save you? Get quotes from vetted local installers on Aurora Solar’s marketplace.
For a deeper look at the solar industry — including what homeowners like you want, what installers are offering, how financing is changing, and where solar is headed — read the full 2026 Aurora Solar Snapshot.
Frequently asked questions
Is solar worth it when energy prices are high?
Yes. You already knew this, though, right? When electricity rates and gas prices rise, the value of generating your own power from sunlight increases. Aurora Solar’s data shows the national median price per watt for residential solar dropped nearly 15% year-over-year between early 2025 and early 2026, meaning the cost of going solar is falling at the same time that the cost of not going solar is rising.
Does solar protect you from rising gas prices?
Solar panels protect you from rising electricity prices by letting you generate your own power. They don’t directly offset gasoline costs — but pairing solar with an electric vehicle and home EV charger means your transportation can run on sunlight too. According to Aurora Solar’s 2026 research, 71% of solar installers now offer EV charging equipment alongside solar systems.
Is solar worth it in 2026 without the federal tax credit?
Yes, for many homeowners. The federal residential solar tax credit (25D) expired at the end of 2025, which threatened to raise your costs. But, overall the cost of solar hardware continues to drop, and third-party ownership (TPO) financing options allow homeowners to benefit indirectly from the commercial solar tax credit (48E), which remains in effect through at least 2027.
If you’re a person who prefers to own that system on your roof, we see you. Check out options like pre-paid leases, which let you benefit from the commercial tax credit and give you the option to own the system after a certain number of years.
What is a pre-paid solar lease and how does it work?
A pre-paid solar lease is a financing arrangement where a third-party company owns your solar system for an initial period — typically around six years — then transfers ownership to you, usually at no additional cost. Because the company owns the system, it can claim the commercial solar tax credit and pass those savings to you through a lower upfront price. It’s one of the primary ways homeowners can still access the benefits of federal solar incentives after the residential credit expired.
What is the Resilience Stack?
The Resilience Stack is a term coined by Aurora Solar to describe the combination of solar panels, battery storage, EV charging equipment, and other home electrification technologies that work together to reduce a home’s dependence on the grid. As grid reliability concerns grow — 53% of homeowners in Aurora Solar’s 2026 research agree the grid is becoming less reliable — more homeowners are looking at solar not just as a cost-saving tool but as a complete home energy resilience system.
What is the Real Estate Trap in solar?
The Real Estate Trap is a term introduced by Aurora Solar in the 2026 Solar Snapshot to describe a structural barrier to solar adoption: The generations most interested in solar — Gen Z and Millennials — are increasingly unable to buy homes, while older generations who own most homes are the least likely to install solar. We found that 27% of Gen Z homeowners installed solar in the past year, but Baby Boomers now represent 42% of all home buyers. Plug-in balcony solar and community solar programs are emerging as solutions for households that don’t have a traditional roof.
How do I find a trustworthy solar installer?
Aurora Solar’s 2026 research found that 41% of homeowners say it’s difficult to determine which solar companies are trustworthy. The best way to protect yourself is to get multiple quotes, check verified reviews, confirm warranty terms in writing, and work with installers who provide clear, transparent pricing and savings projections. Aurora Solar’s consumer marketplace connects homeowners with vetted local installers.
Can I go solar if I rent or don’t own a traditional home?
Yes! Balcony solar — plug-in panels that can attach to a balcony, patio, or exterior wall — works for renters and homeowners without suitable rooftops. Community solar programs let you subscribe to a share of a local solar farm’s output and receive credits on your electricity bill without any installation at your home. Aurora Solar’s marketplace is expanding to include these options.
How much can solar save me on my energy bills?
It depends on your location, energy usage, system size, and financing method. Aurora Solar’s marketplace shows homeowners saving an average of $55 per month. Over a 25-year system life, that adds up significantly — and the higher energy prices climb, the faster the savings compound. The best way to get an accurate estimate for your specific home is to get a personalized quote.
Data in this article is sourced from Aurora Solar’s 2026 Solar Snapshot, a research report based on surveys of 1,112 homeowners and more than 600 solar sales professionals conducted in early 2026, as well as proprietary project data from more than 20 million solar projects designed on Aurora Solar’s platform. Read the full report.
