Hey there, and welcome! The below article is cool, but it’s old news. Check out the current State Solar Power Rankings report right here. If for posterity’s sake you want to see the 2015 State Solar Power Rankings, read on!

We’ve spent another year shining our solar-powered flashlights into the darkest corners of state energy policy, and we’re back to tell you all about it. We’ve crawled through chasms of congressional records! Sifted through bureaus filled with bureaucracy! And now, behold: The 2015 State Solar Power Rankings!

But seriously, folks. We’ve been keeping an eye on state solar policy since 2007, and bringing the complex world of renewable energy legislation, tax incentives and utility company policy to you in a complete, straightforward way.This year, we’ve rejiggered our ranking system to reflect a number of different factors, ensuring that the state rankings take into account not only how good of a deal getting into solar can be (and it is often a good deal), but also the strength of the underlying policy and the likelihood that the solar train will keep on a-rollin’ into the future.

Each state (and Washington DC) has a score between 0 and 5, and we’ve tracked the trends in our list to show how things have been changing around the country since last year.

The image below shows the states in order of their scores. Click on a state abbreviation to go directly to its section on the page. If you’d like to get really down into it, click on the state’s name in its summary section to go to a page with a complete discussion of the ins and outs of that state’s policy. And if you’d like to read about our methodology, click here to go below the rankings and behind the wizard’s curtain.

On to the rankings!

RANK STATE/SCORE TREND COMMENTARY 1 New York

Score: 4.4/5 2 Simply put, New York is doing almost everything right. It all starts with the most aggressive RPS in the country, and a really great solar carve-out. A whole slew of rebates and tax incentives follow logically from the RPS goals. New York is the best around, and Governor Cuomo’s commitment to solar energy will keep the picture sweet for a long time to come.

RANK STATE/SCORE TREND COMMENTARY 2 Massachusetts

Score: 4.2/5 1 Massachusetts ceded its 2014 top spot to New York, but the Bay State hasn’t been coasting. They’ve been working hard to make the state’s policies for solar as good as they can be, and we think that the rebates, performance payments, tax exemptions, and perfect accessibility laws make this the easiest state in which to get into solar. And that payback time is nuts.

RANK STATE/SCORE TREND COMMENTARY 3 Connecticut

Score: 4.1/5 10 Connecticut is a perfect sun-storm of high electricity prices, a great RPS and accessibility laws, and a HUGE solar rebate. It’s enough to rocket the state to near the top of the payback timeframe list, and enough to put it tops on our list, too.

RANK STATE/SCORE TREND COMMENTARY 4 Oregon

Score: 3.9/5 7 You might not think of sun when you think of Oregon, but you probably don’t know that the southeastern half of the state gets as much sun as Tennessee and Alabama. And summers, even in rainy Portland, are known for their sunny skies dotted with high clouds. Oregon is also near the top in solar policy, with rebates, tax incentives, and performance payments all over the state, and a great RPS behind it all. That’s enough to warrant top marks.

RANK STATE/SCORE TREND COMMENTARY 5 New Jersey

Score: 3.8/5 4 You might think of artificial tans before natural ones when you think of the Jersey shore, but Garden Staters might be able to afford those expensive tanning sessions because they’re saving so much money on electricity. Of course we’re joking, but NJ’s solar policy does not mess around. With its strong RPS inspiring great tax exemptions and a rockin’ SREC market, New Jersey is top 5 in the country when it comes to grabbing the rays.

RANK STATE/SCORE TREND COMMENTARY 6 Colorado

Score: 3.8/5 1 Colorado is the proof that good, consistent, statewide solar policy works. Even as the larger rebates have been exhausted, solar is still going strong in the Centennial State, thanks to tax exemptions, performance payments, and great accessibility laws.

RANK STATE/SCORE TREND COMMENTARY 7 Maryland

Score: 3.6/5 5 Maryland makes the top ten even after dropping five spots, because its background policies are strong, and its incentives are so varied. They’ve got your rebates, they’ve got your tax credits, they’ve got your tax exemptions… you get the idea. With so many incentive options, there are ways to make every solar power system in the state pay itself back quickly and reliably, and produce income for years into the future. That’s some top-shelf goodness, right there.

RANK STATE/SCORE TREND COMMENTARY 8 Minnesota

Score: 3.6/5 14 Minnesota is the biggest gainer in our solar power rankings this year, shooting up 14 spots even as its largest utility transitions from a rebate program to a performance payment. The incentives are still good, though, and Minnesota’s RPS and solar carve-out are some of the best in the nation. Way to go, North Star!

RANK STATE/SCORE TREND COMMENTARY 9 Vermont

Score: 3.6/5 6 Vermont is part of the group of northeastern states that prove solar is good no matter where you are in the country by putting good policy and incentives out there. The state’s largest utility offers a great performance payment plan, ensuring that solar will be a good bet in Vermont for years to come.

RANK STATE/SCORE TREND COMMENTARY 10 New Mexico

Score: 3.5/5 2 New Mexico falls two places this year with no rebates to speak of, but still maintains a spot in the top ten states for solar. The state’s RPS (with solar carve-out) and tax incentives are some of the best, most long-lasting ways to promote solar. Good on ya, New Mexico.

RANK STATE/SCORE TREND COMMENTARY 11 Delaware

Score: 3.4/5 7 In Delaware, a strong RPS and a great solar carve-out equal great rebates and great SREC payments. And the state’s commitment to continuing good solar policy means solar is a sure and solid investment, too. But a nice tax credit could reverse the trend here and send Delaware back to the top 5!

RANK STATE/SCORE TREND COMMENTARY 12 California

Score: 3.4/5 — California is a place that sets benchmarks for solar power programs. With one of the best and earliest RPS laws in the country, it has done more than any other state to promote solar energy. In fact, solar has done so well here that some of the amazing rebate offers of the past have gone away, but California still earns a spot near the top ten for its excellent policy, incentives, and accessibility rules.

RANK STATE/SCORE TREND COMMENTARY 13 New Hampshire

Score: 3.4/5 8 New Hampshire is the epitome of an A state. A good RPS, high electricity prices, good rebates and tax policy, and a good payback timeframe mean that New Hampshire residents can be sure that their state is serious about promoting renewable energy and holding utility companies accountable for sourcing it from homeowners around the state.

RANK STATE/SCORE TREND COMMENTARY 14 Washington D.C.

Score: 3.3/5 8 Washington D.C. is a special place for solar, with neighborhood groups banding together to buy in bulk, solid rebates, a property tax incentive, and one of the best SREC markets in the country. DC also has one of the best payback timeframes and a great rate of return, making solar a great investment. Bravo, Federal City!

RANK STATE/SCORE TREND COMMENTARY 15 Nevada

Score: 3.1/5 4 Nevada is that sunny state that’s doing things right when it comes to solar. A strong RPS with a solar-specific carve out and a broad variety of incentive programs show the state’s commitment to helping homeowners go solar now and in the future. That kind of commitment deserves a reward. Can we take you out for ice cream, Nevada?

RANK STATE/SCORE TREND COMMENTARY 16 Wisconsin

Score: 3.1/5 12 Look at Wisconsin in the top 20 states for solar! Other states with middling RPS laws could learn a few things from Wisconsin’s sweet incentive programs. A new solar power system in the Badger State can pay itself back relatively quickly and save homeowners some cheddar that they can spend on… well, cheddar, for example. And beer. Mmmmmm, beer.

RANK STATE/SCORE TREND COMMENTARY 17 Hawaii

Score: 2.8/5 1 What can we say about Hawaii? It’s so sunny and the electricity is so expensive that going solar seems like a no-brainer. That’s if you can get hooked into the grid (we’ve heard some Hawaii horror stories). If your tolerance for bureaucracy is high, there might not be a better place in the world to put solar panels on your roof.

RANK STATE/SCORE TREND COMMENTARY 18 Montana

Score: 2.8/5 2 Montana is holding strong near the top third of this list, with good rebates and tax exemptions available, driven by a quality RPS that’s an anomaly in the great plains states. Now is the perfect time for Montana to change the game by throwing down a sweet solar carve out to drive future growth in distributed clean energy resources. Go, Montana!

RANK STATE/SCORE TREND COMMENTARY 19 Arizona

Score: 2.7/5 12 Arizona is one of the country’s biggest success stories for early solar policy, but the boom times of the past several years are slowly going away, with rebate programs running dry and no new RPS standards. Arizona is still a great place to go solar—don’t get us wrong—but there’s an opportunity for the state to be a leader in the next wave of renewable energy policy.

RANK STATE/SCORE TREND COMMENTARY 20 Rhode Island

Score: 2.6/5 15 Rhode Island is teetering on the edge of being a great state for solar (like many of its eastern-seaboard sisters) and being a failure. On one hand, the tax exemptions are decent and there is a brand-new performance payments program that could be good. On the other hand, the RPS is average and there are no rebates or tax credits available. Time will tell, and we’ll keep you up to date next year.

RANK STATE/SCORE TREND COMMENTARY 21 Ohio

Score: 2.5/5 5 Ohio took a step back this year on solar policy, pushing its already-weak RPS standards back two years. The state earns a C+ based almost exclusively on its tax exemptions and good net metering policy. Solar remains an average investment in Ohio, where it could be great with a serious retooling of the state’s RPS.

RANK STATE/SCORE TREND COMMENTARY 22 Illinois

Score: 2.4/5 12 We want to give Illinois a better grade, but a lottery-based grant program and no statewide tax credit make it a C+ state, no doubt about it. Going solar in Illinois is literally a gamble because of that grant lottery (it’s the difference between solar being a good investment and an average one), and lawmakers in Springfield need to do a little more to promote solar on an even playing field for all homeowners, statewide.

RANK STATE/SCORE TREND COMMENTARY 23 Iowa

Score: 2.4/5 8 For a state with so many wind turbines churning up so much energy, Iowa does a remarkably decent job of encouraging solar power. It’s almost like they know all that good farmland wouldn’t be as good covered in soot or fracked out of existence. Tax credits and exemptions in Iowa make it a good place to put solar on your house, with decent payback timeframe and above-average rate of return.

RANK STATE/SCORE TREND COMMENTARY 24 Florida

Score: 2.4/5 1 There is hope for Sunshine State homeowners who want to go solar, but not because of much of anything the state has done to encourage it. A few local utilities’ rebate programs and the lack of a state income tax get part of the way there, and the property and sales tax exemptions for solar panels go the rest of the way.

RANK STATE/SCORE TREND COMMENTARY 25 North Carolina

Score: 2.4/5 11 North Carolina is in an interesting place for solar policy right now. There is perhaps no other state at such a critical juncture. The state’s excellent tax credit will expire at the end of 2015, and rebates are small and hard to come by. Without some action in the next year, North Carolina—long a regional leader in solar power—could be getting a D or an F in our 2016 rankings.

RANK STATE/SCORE TREND COMMENTARY 26 Washington

Score: 2.4/5 8 Washington state is right in the middle of the rainy northwest, and it’s also right in the middle of our list. With the right variables, solar can be a great investment here right now, but lawmakers have done only an average job of promoting it. A simple property tax exemption would really do a lot here in a state that already has decent incentives.

RANK STATE/SCORE TREND COMMENTARY 27 Alaska

Score: 2.3/5 9 Alaska, you lucked in to this C grade because you don’t tax your citizens and because your electricity is so expensive. It’s good to see the allowance for property tax exemptions, but nearly everything else in the state screams “Solar? No!” Thing is, Alaska sees enough sun—even sometimes at midnight—to take advantage of solar power. Why not start with a good RPS and see where that takes you?

RANK STATE/SCORE TREND COMMENTARY 28 Maine

Score: 2.3/5 2 Maine is a state with a good RPS and virtually no other statewide renewable energy policy. If you get your system on the grid, things are great in the Pine Tree State, but Maine won’t help you nearly as much as its neighbors to the south and west. Good fences might make good neighbors, but why don’t you take some good across-the-fence advice from New Hampshire and start offering a couple of incentives for homeowners who want to produce clean, reliable power?

RANK STATE/SCORE TREND COMMENTARY 29 Indiana

Score: 2.1/5 2 Oh, Indiana. With your voluntary RPS and your lack of rebates and tax credits, you look like a D state. Oh wait, are those property and sales tax exemptions? And good net accessibility rules, too? Well, that’s a decent start, so we’ll give you a C for trying, but we need to see some progress toward more aggressive standards, or we’ll have to hold you back a year, and we know you don’t want to be in the same class as your little cousin West Virginia.

RANK STATE/SCORE TREND COMMENTARY 30 Missouri

Score: 2.0/5 6 Missouri comes in at the low end of average, just scraping its way out of a D because of a few local utility rebates. When those go the way of the dinosaurs (and they will, without help from the legislature), Missouri will deserve that D. As it stands, solar is a pretty sweet investment if you’re in the right part of the state.

RANK STATE/SCORE TREND COMMENTARY 31 Kansas

Score: 1.9/5 8 What’s the matter with Kansas? Well, even with a decent RPS and a sweet, sweet property tax exemption, solar is still languishing in the Sunflower State. The state house and senate would do a lot of good with a simple bill to give tax credits to homeowners who go solar, but as of now, Kansas gets the first D in our list.

RANK STATE/SCORE TREND COMMENTARY 32 Texas

Score: 1.9/5 3 Texas coasts into a high D in our survey, based on some good local utility rebate programs, a property tax exemption, and not having a state income tax. But should the largest state in the lower 48 settle for coasting into anything? No! Strap on your spurs, Texas legislators, and get the solar horse a-galloping! Yee-haw! Or, just… y’know, do your jobs and pass laws that encourage smart residential solar energy development.

RANK STATE/SCORE TREND COMMENTARY 33 Utah

Score: 1.9/5 8 Utah has what looks to be a great RPS, until you see that word; “voluntary.” If you’re just asking the electric utilities if they’d like to turn energy generation and money making over to homeowners, they’ll say “no” almost every time. Even still, two Utah utilities offer decent rebates—for now—and it’s enough to drag the state out of a failing grade. We want more for you, Utah, we really do. With your great net metering and interconnection laws, you could be a contender! But you gotta stop just asking for renewable energy and put some strong alternative compliance payments in place. Thanks, Utah. I’m glad we had this talk.

RANK STATE/SCORE TREND COMMENTARY 34 Pennsylvania

Score: 1.9/5 17 Congratulations, Pennsylvania, you’re the biggest loser on our list! We know dropping seventeen spots wasn’t easy, but you did it with style. But seriously, this is what a weak RPS gets you: disappearing solar rebates and a languishing SREC market means the solar picture is a lot less bright this year than last. The Keystone state’s legislature has been playing good cop to the utility companies and bad cop to homeowners. That needs to change.

RANK STATE/SCORE TREND COMMENTARY 35 Tennessee

Score: 1.9/5 6 Tennessee is like a riddle wrapped in an enigma and fried in butter. Dang, getting this far on the list must be making us hungry. Anyway, even with no RPS to speak of, the big electric utility, TVA, is still offering some pretty nice rebates and performance payments. With a couple of legislative successes, the Volunteer state could be a great place for solar. Now who wants to volunteer to take us out to lunch? We haven’t eaten since that ice cream we shared with Nevada.

RANK STATE/SCORE TREND COMMENTARY 36 Michigan

Score: 1.7/5 1 Even cold and snowy Michigan gets enough sun all year ’round to make solar a good investment, but the state legislature can’t quite commit to helping homeowners grab that gold. The missing incentives are the big problem here. If Michigan had a good SREC market and tax exemptions, we might see a photovoltaic boom in the old rust belt.

RANK STATE/SCORE TREND COMMENTARY 37 South Carolina

Score: 1.6/5 5 South Carolina comes in with a D despite having one of the best solar tax credits in the nation. The state’s RPS standards are laughable, but the tax credits and performance payments manage to make solar a good investment. A glimmer of hope! If the state enacted a more aggressive RPS and offered tax exemptions, it’d be flying high with an A grade.

RANK STATE/SCORE TREND COMMENTARY 38 Louisiana

Score: 1.4/5 8 Louisiana drops 8 spots this year to a low D. It’s been another year of inaction on solar policy for the legislature, and that ain’t good, folks. With its knock-your-socks-off amazing tax credit, Louisiana is near the top for payback timeframe and ROI for solar, but without any solid policy to back that up, Louisiana would earn a Fat Tuesday-sized F.

RANK STATE/SCORE TREND COMMENTARY 39 South Dakota

Score: 1.4/5 3 South Dakota isn’t nearly as bad as its sister to the north, but only because it gets a default A for having no state income tax. About the only thing South Dakota does right is offer a decent property tax exemption. All in all, the state is lucky to come out with a low D in our rankings.

RANK STATE/SCORE TREND COMMENTARY 40 Georgia

Score: 1.3/5 5 Georgia is the first state in this list that receives a failing grade; the best of the lousiest, if you will. Georgia has no RPS, and it shows in the middling incentive options available. Without a strong law with strict requirements, Georgia will continue to be among the worst states for solar, even though it gets a great deal of daily sun.

RANK STATE/SCORE TREND COMMENTARY 41 Virginia

Score: 1.1/5 8 Virginia is languishing near the bottom of our list, dropping 8 spots from last year, into failing territory. With a shoddy RPS, it’s no surprise that there are no statewide incentives for solar in the Old Dominion. But with decent net metering and interconnection policy, a strong RPS could jump-start Virginia’s languishing solar industry by causing the utility companies to wake up and offer incentives.

RANK STATE/SCORE TREND COMMENTARY 42 North Dakota

Score: 0.9/5 6 North Dakota jumped six spots on our list this year, but an F is an F, and North Dakota earns this one by offering a weak voluntary RPS and giving almost no incentives for solar installations. You can’t frack your way out of this problem, NoDak.

RANK STATE/SCORE TREND COMMENTARY 43 Mississippi

Score: 0.8/5 6 Mississippi fails at nearly every aspect of solar policy. In fact, its only incentives for solar come from another state’s utility company! At the very least, Mississippi should follow the lead of Louisiana and use some of the federal disaster relief money it has received to offer a tax credit that encourages new construction with solar installations.

RANK STATE/SCORE TREND COMMENTARY 44 Nebraska

Score: 0.8/5 1 Nebraska gets as much sun as Texas and southern California, but without any push from the state legislature to promote solar energy there is little reason to go solar here. From the nonexistent RPS to the laughable tax credit, Nebraska has a lot of work to do.

RANK STATE/SCORE TREND COMMENTARY 45 Wyoming

Score: 0.8/5 1 Lawmakers in the Cowboy State have really dropped the lasso on this one. Virtually every Wyoming resident could save money with solar if the right incentives were in place. Unfortunately, without an RPS, the start-up costs and payback timeframe lag way behind here..

RANK STATE/SCORE TREND COMMENTARY 46 Kentucky

Score: 0.7/5 6 With no RPS and minimal incentive options, Kentucky earns a sorry F in our survey. Considering its decent net metering rules, a strong RPS would go a long way toward getting Kentuckians off the old fuels and on to the best power source there is.

RANK STATE/SCORE TREND COMMENTARY 47 West Virginia

Score: 0.6/5 9 West Virginia has the worst payback timeframe and IRR of any state on the list, and with a dismal voluntary RPS and no incentives to speak of, the state is only saved from the bottom of our list by decent net metering and interconnection laws.

RANK STATE/SCORE TREND COMMENTARY 48 Alabama

Score: 0.6/5 2 Alabama is yet another state with plenty of sun that fails at promoting clean, reliable solar power. With no legislative action, homeowners hungry for solar are left with few options in Alabama.

RANK STATE/SCORE TREND COMMENTARY 49 Oklahoma

Score: 0.5/5 2 Last year we ranked Oklahoma dead last for solar in the USA. Don’t let the two-position bump fool you; Oklahoma could still have qualified for dead last, but for the rejiggering of our calculations. With a payback timeline and policy as bad as anywhere, Oklahoma deserves this F. Oklahoma lawmakers should act Sooner (sorry, list fatigue), rather than later, to enact laws to promote residential solar.

RANK STATE/SCORE TREND COMMENTARY 50 Arkansas

Score: 0.4/5 — Arkansas has consistently ranked near last place for policy and payback. This year saw little change for the state, with no new laws or incentives. That’s a shame in a place that enjoys as much daily sun as big parts of Florida and California.