Should Colorado Homeowners Go Solar in 2026, Or Wait? | Apollo Energy
Solar Insights , April 2026

Should Colorado Homeowners Go Solar in 2026, Or Wait?

Electricity rates are rising. Incentives won't last forever. Here's the real cost of waiting.

Short answer

Waiting costs you money. Every month you delay solar is another month paying full utility rates, rates that are already climbing. The question isn't whether solar makes sense. It's how much the delay is costing you right now.

Apollo Energy team installing solar panels on a Colorado home

Colorado homeowners are asking the same question: is 2026 still a good time to go solar, or should I hold off and see what happens? It's a fair question. But once you understand what's actually happening to electricity prices, and what's at stake with federal incentives, the math becomes pretty clear.

Let's break it down.


1

Electricity prices aren't going down, and neither is your bill

Across Colorado, utilities are already raising rates. Some increases this year alone are landing between 6% and 10%. That's not a one-time adjustment, it's part of a long-term trend driven by aging grid infrastructure, rising fuel costs, and surging energy demand from data centers and EV adoption.

Here's the core problem: you have no control over what the utility charges next year. Solar changes that entirely.

Staying on the grid

Variable & unpredictable

Your rate changes every year. You have zero say in what you pay, and prices only trend upward.

Going solar

Fixed & controlled

You lock in a cost per kWh and prepay your electricity at a lower rate, for decades.

Most Colorado homeowners today are paying $150 or more per month on electricity. That number keeps climbing. Solar doesn't eliminate your energy costs, it puts you in control of them.


2

Every month you wait is lost savings, not a delay

This is the most common misconception we hear from homeowners: "I'll wait and see if prices drop." But waiting isn't neutral. It's expensive.

The real cost of delay: If your current bill averages $150/month and solar would have cut that by 80%, every month you wait costs you around $120 in savings you'll never recover. Over a year, that's $1,440 gone, before rates go up again.

Meanwhile, your ROI timeline gets pushed back month by month. The sooner your system is live, the sooner it starts paying for itself. There's no catching up on the savings you miss while waiting.


3

Battery storage: your shield against outages

Colorado's grid reliability has become a real issue. The state has seen more frequent outages, weather-related disruptions, and the threat of Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS). For most homeowners, solar panels alone won't keep the lights on during an outage, but solar paired with battery storage will.

  • Backup power that kicks in automatically when the grid goes down, no interruption, no fumbling with generators
  • No fuel, no noise, no fumes, battery storage is a clean, silent backup solution
  • Time-of-use optimization, store cheap daytime solar and avoid peak-rate grid power at night
  • True energy independence, less reliance on the utility for day-to-day power needs

4

Solar is a long-term financial strategy, not just a monthly bill fix

When you install solar, you're not buying a product, you're prepaying your electricity at a locked-in, lower rate for the next 25–30 years. That's a fundamentally different relationship with energy costs than most homeowners have ever had.

25%
Federal Investment Tax Credit (ITC) still available in 2026
25+
Years of expected panel performance under warranty
10%
Average utility rate increase seen in parts of Colorado this year (Xcel Energy)

Federal incentives like the 30% ITC significantly reduce your upfront system cost, but those incentives aren't guaranteed forever. Changes in policy can reduce or eliminate them. Waiting runs the risk of missing out on the best version of the financial picture.

Beyond savings, solar typically increases home value. Studies consistently show solar homes command a premium at resale, often recovering a significant portion of system cost in added value alone.


5

Energy demand is rising fast, and prices will follow

There's a bigger force at play that most homeowners don't see coming. Energy demand across the US is surging, driven by data center expansion, electric vehicle adoption, and population growth in the Sun Belt. (EIA, Jan 2026) More demand on the same aging grid means more pressure, more strain, and, inevitably, higher prices passed to you.

💡

Solar protects you from this macro trend. Instead of being subject to whatever the utility needs to charge to maintain the grid, you generate your own power, at a cost locked in today.


So, now or wait?

Rates are already increasing. Incentives won't last forever. Savings start the day your system goes live.

Waiting doesn't improve your situation, it delays your savings and costs you real money every single month.

The best time to go solar was last year. The second best time is before your next rate hike.

Apollo Energy , Denver, CO

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