Premium Solar Leads in North Carolina

North Carolina has established itself as the undisputed leader in southeastern solar development, consistently ranking among the top five solar states nationally despite the absence of the aggressive state incentives found in markets like California or New York. The Tar Heel State’s solar success stems from favorable policies including renewable energy portfolio standards that require utilities to source increasing percentages of power from solar, combined with investor-friendly regulatory frameworks that attracted massive utility-scale solar development. Duke Energy, which dominates the state’s electric utility landscape serving the majority of North Carolina customers, has become one of the nation’s largest utility solar investors while also supporting residential and commercial solar through interconnection programs and green tariff offerings. The state’s excellent solar resource with good irradiance levels throughout the Piedmont and Coastal Plain regions supports productive installations, while the Research Triangle’s tech-savvy population and Charlotte’s business community provide sophisticated customer bases for residential and commercial solar. North Carolina’s agricultural heritage creates opportunities for farm-based solar installations that combine energy production with continued agricultural use. Hurricane preparedness and resilience concerns increasingly drive interest in solar-plus-storage solutions, particularly in coastal communities from Wilmington to the Outer Banks. The state’s competitive electricity rates require solar contractors to present compelling economic propositions, but the combination of federal tax credits, Duke Energy’s programs, and declining installation costs makes solar increasingly attractive. North Carolina’s established solar workforce and supply chain infrastructure, developed through years of utility-scale development, now supports residential and commercial growth as the market continues maturing.