Alabama Power solar buyback

Alabama is the hardest place in the South to make solar pay, and the reason is not the weather. The sun over Birmingham and Mobile is strong enough to run a house, the installed price is the highest in the country at $3.44 to $3.75 a watt, and the rules that govern what your panels earn are the least generous anywhere in the region: no state tax credit, no rebate from any utility, no net metering, and a monthly charge from Alabama Power of $5.41 for every kilowatt on your roof, billed whether the panels produce or not. A typical 9.16 kW system costs about $31,510 before incentives, makes about 12,622 kilowatt-hours a year, and takes about 30.6 years to pay for itself on Alabama Power — longer than the panels are warranted for. Huntsville is the exception, at 23 years, because TVA’s Solar Connect pays more for exported power and charges no capacity fee. This guide prices every system size, compares Birmingham, Huntsville, Mobile, and Montgomery, explains Rider RGB and Rate PAE line by line, and shows exactly who still comes out ahead in Alabama — and who should walk away.