Solar in Erie County, Pennsylvania

The numbers

What Erie County pays for power

Figures as published August 2026. Rates change on published schedules — check your own bill for the rate that applies to your account.

Where we work in Erie County

Towns and ZIP codes we serve in Erie County

Erie, Albion, Edinboro, Corry, Cranesville, East Springfield, Elgin, Fairview, Girard, Harborcreek, Lake City, Mc Kean.

ZIP codes: 16401, 16407, 16410, 16411, 16412, 16413, 16415, 16417, 16421, 16423, 16426, 16427, 16428, 16430, 16438, 16441, 16442, 16443, 16444, 16475, 16501, 16502, 16503, 16504, 16505, 16506, 16507, 16508, 16509, 16510, 16511, 16512, 16514, 16515, 16522, 16530, 16531, 16532, 16533, 16534, 16538, 16541, 16544, 16546, 16550, 16553, 16554, 16563, 16565.

If your ZIP is not listed it does not mean we cannot serve you — Erie County has more municipalities than we can list here. Enter your ZIP above and it will tell you.

What your roof actually produces here

Erie County averages about 3.9 peak sun hours a day. A well-oriented kilowatt of panels produces roughly 1,139 kilowatt-hours a year in this part of Pennsylvania. A typical 9 kW residential system therefore produces around 10,251 kilowatt-hours annually. At a rate near 21.1¢, that production is worth roughly $2,163 a year before any incentive.

Those are pre-shading numbers. Trees, roof pitch and orientation move them, sometimes a lot, which is why we look at your specific roof rather than quoting from a county average.

Permitting and interconnection in Erie County

Permits for solar in Erie County are issued locally rather than at the state level, so requirements vary between municipalities. Interconnection is handled by your utility and runs on its own timeline after the permit clears. We manage both, and we tell you what the local process looks like before anything is scheduled.

Every Pennsylvania utility rate, for context

What has moved recently

What Pennsylvania offers a homeowner

Pennsylvania has no state solar credit, no rebate, no sales tax exemption and no property tax exemption. SRECs trade in the low $20s and they go to the owner of the system, not to a PPA customer. What Pennsylvania does have is 1:1 retail net metering — the best export structure in the region, and almost nobody advertises it.

How export credit works here

1:1 retail net metering — what you export is credited at the full retail rate.

Outages and storage in Erie County

Solar alone does not run your house during a blackout — a grid-tied inverter has to disconnect when the grid goes down, for line-worker safety. Adding storage and the right switching changes that. Whether storage also makes financial sense in Pennsylvania depends on the export credit above: where exports are credited at the full retail rate there is no arbitrage to capture and storage is a resilience purchase.

Two ways to pay for solar, and they are very different

Who you would be working with

SolarAmerica

We design your system and manage the project; installation is performed by vetted licensed partners in your area.

Erie County questions

The things people actually ask

Does solar make financial sense in Erie County?

It depends on your roof and your rate, not on the county. Erie County averages about 3.9 peak sun hours a day, so a well-oriented kilowatt of panels produces roughly 1,139 kilowatt-hours a year here. Against a rate near 21.1¢ that production has real value — but shading, roof pitch and your actual usage move the number, which is why we look at your address instead of quoting a county average.

Which utility serves Erie County?

Penelec serves most of Erie County. Your bill names your utility at the top. If it does not match, call us and we will check your address against the service map.

Where does the 21.1¢ figure come from?

It is an all-in residential figure — supply plus delivery plus riders — taken from the utility's published tariff and rate filings, as of August 2026. Utility rates reset on published schedules, so check your own bill for the rate that applies to your account.

Does SolarAmerica install the system?

We design the system and manage the project. Installation is performed by licensed partners in your area, and you will know who is coming to your roof before anything is scheduled.

What does $0 upfront actually mean?

Under a power purchase agreement we install and own the system and you buy the power it produces at a rate set in your agreement. There is no purchase and no loan. The residential federal credit (25D) ended for systems purchased after December 31, 2025; what remains applies to the owner of the system, which under a PPA is us.