Minnesota solar leads
Minnesota’s small-scale solar grew 18.1% to 387.8 MW in the year to July 2026 (EIA), and since 2023 a company selling home solar must hold a residential building contractor or remodeler license. Summit Leads supplies solar leads in Minnesota by real-time ping/post, with filters and routing agreed during onboarding.
Summit Leads sells solar leads by real-time ping/post. Filters and routing are agreed during onboarding.
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Minnesota facts for solar lead buyers
| Fact | Value Source |
|---|---|
| Small-scale solar PV capacity, July 2026 | 387.8 MW (EIA estimate, July 2026), 28th of the 49 states with an EIA estimateElectric Power Monthly, Table 6.2.B: Net Summer Capacity Using Primarily Renewable Energy Sources and by State U.S. Energy Information Administration |
| Small-scale solar PV capacity, July 2025 | 328.3 MW (EIA estimate, July 2025): 59.5 MW, or 18.1%, was added in the year to July 2026Electric Power Monthly, Table 6.2.B: Net Summer Capacity Using Primarily Renewable Energy Sources and by State U.S. Energy Information Administration |
| Solar resource in Minneapolis, the largest city | 4.57 kWh per square meter per day on a fixed, south-facing array tilted 20 degrees (PVWatts version 8, typical-year data, checked October 9, 2026)PVWatts Calculator (version 8): Minneapolis, Minnesota National Laboratory of the Rockies (formerly NREL) |
| Average residential electricity price, 2024 | 15.45 cents per kWh (2023: 14.73 cents; EIA Form EIA-861 data, 2024)Electric Power Annual, Table 2.10: Average Price of Electricity to Ultimate Customers by End-Use Sector, by State U.S. Energy Information Administration |
| Single-family detached share of housing units | 66.0% (1,680,195 of 2,545,030 housing units; ACS 5-year 2020-2024, table B25024)Table B25024, Units in Structure: Minnesota (ACS 5-Year 2020-2024) U.S. Census Bureau |
| Owner-occupied single-family detached homes | 1,415,752, or 84.9% of 1,666,687 owner-occupied homes (ACS 5-year 2020-2024, table B25032)Table B25032, Tenure by Units in Structure: Minnesota (ACS 5-Year 2020-2024) U.S. Census Bureau |
| Utilities covered by the net metering statute | All Minnesota electric utilities, including cooperative electric associations and municipal utilities (Minn. Stat. 216B.164, subd. 2, 2025)Minnesota Statutes 2025, section 216B.164, Cogeneration and small power production Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes |
| Compensation option for systems under 40 kW | The customer may elect to be compensated for net input at the average retail utility energy rate (Minn. Stat. 216B.164, subd. 3(d), 2025)Minnesota Statutes 2025, section 216B.164, Cogeneration and small power production Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes |
| Systems of 40 kW to under 1,000 kW on a public utility | May take a kilowatt-hour credit carried forward to later bills; no standby charge on systems of 100 kW or less (subd. 3a, 2025)Minnesota Statutes 2025, section 216B.164, Cogeneration and small power production Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes |
| Carried-forward credits at cooperatives and municipal utilities | For systems under 40 kW that choose them, kilowatt-hour credits cancel at the end of the calendar year (subd. 3(f), 2025)Minnesota Statutes 2025, section 216B.164, Cogeneration and small power production Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes |
| License for companies selling home solar | Residential building contractor or remodeler license, required since July 1, 2023; installation itself by a Minnesota-licensed electrical contractor (DLI, checked October 9, 2026)Solar installer licensing requirement Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry |
| Sales tax on solar energy systems | A solar energy system as defined in section 216C.06, subd. 17, is exempt (Minn. Stat. 297A.67, subd. 29, 2025)Minnesota Statutes 2025, section 297A.67, Exemptions for necessities and other exempt items Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes |
Last reviewed: October 9, 2026. A summary for education, not legal advice.
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How fast Minnesota rooftop solar is growing
Minnesota’s installed base is mid-sized, but it is expanding quickly. The EIA’s Table 6.2.B in the Electric Power Monthly estimates small-scale solar, meaning systems under 1 MW on homes and businesses, at 387.8 MW in July 2026. Twelve months earlier the figure was 328.3 MW, so 59.5 MW was added, an increase of 18.1% in a single year. The July 2026 total ranks 28th among the 49 states with an EIA estimate.
| Month | Capacity (MW) | Source |
|---|---|---|
| July 2025 | 328.3 | EIA EPM Table 6.2.B, July 2025 |
| July 2026 | 387.8 | EIA EPM Table 6.2.B, July 2026 |
Capacity is a measure of what has already been built. A growing base tells a buyer that new systems keep going up in the state, and that the number of older systems needing service, batteries or expansion rises each year. It does not measure current homeowner interest.
Sunlight on a Minneapolis roof
PVWatts, the solar model that NREL built and the National Laboratory of the Rockies now operates, gives 4.57 kWh per square meter per day for Minneapolis (checked October 9, 2026). Minneapolis is the most populous city in Minnesota in the Census Bureau’s July 1, 2025 estimates.
The value comes from the version 8 default array: fixed on an open rack, pointed south and tilted 20 degrees, at the city’s Census gazetteer coordinates, with National Solar Radiation Database typical-year weather. Snow cover, roof pitch, orientation and shade all change what a real system sees, so the number is a reference point for comparing places, not an estimate for one home.
Minnesota residential electricity price
Average residential prices from the EIA’s annual electricity data for the last two reported years. The figures are listed for reference only.
| Year | Cents per kWh | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 14.73 | EIA Electric Power Annual, Table 2.10 |
| 2024 | 15.45 | EIA Electric Power Annual, Table 2.10 |
Net metering under Minnesota law
This section is general information, not legal advice. It summarizes official sources as of October 9, 2026; check the current text of each rule before relying on it.
Minnesota writes its net metering rules into statute. Section 216B.164 of the 2025 Minnesota Statutes (checked October 9, 2026) applies to every electric utility in the state, including cooperative electric associations and municipal utilities, and the Public Utilities Commission sets rates under it. The section opens by saying it is to be read to give the maximum possible encouragement to small power production consistent with protecting ratepayers.
The 40 kW line matters most for homes. A customer with a qualifying facility under 40 kW is billed for the net energy the utility supplies and may elect to be compensated for any net input to the grid at the average retail utility energy rate, defined as the average of the retail energy rates for that customer class. At a cooperative or municipal utility, a customer under 40 kW may instead take a kilowatt-hour credit carried forward to later bills, but those credits cancel at the end of the calendar year with no further compensation.
Under subdivision 3a of the 2025 text, larger systems on a public utility, from 40 kW up to 1,000 kW, may also take carried-forward kilowatt-hour credits, with any excess over the calendar year compensated at the applicable rate, unless the customer is on a value of solar rate. A public utility may not impose a standby charge on a net metered facility of 100 kW or less. A buyer can use the utility type, investor-owned or cooperative or municipal, to tell which of these rules an installer will explain to a homeowner.
Minnesota’s solar installer license rule
This section is general information, not legal advice. It summarizes official sources as of October 9, 2026; check the current text of each rule before relying on it.
Minnesota changed the licensing picture for home solar in 2023. The Department of Labor and Industry’s solar installer licensing page (checked October 9, 2026) says that a law effective July 1, 2023 requires companies that contract with residential homeowners to install solar PV systems to be licensed as a residential building contractor or remodeler. The department explains that the license lets homeowners make claims to the Contractor Recovery Fund if a solar company goes out of business or cannot finish a project.
The same page says the installation itself must be performed by a Minnesota-licensed electrical contractor, and that licensed electrical contractors working as subcontractors to licensed residential contractors are not affected. A Minnesota solar seller therefore often holds one license and works with a holder of the other, and a buyer checking credentials can look up both in the department’s license search.
Sales tax on Minnesota solar equipment
This section is general information, not legal advice. It summarizes official sources as of October 9, 2026; check the current text of each rule before relying on it.
Minnesota Statutes, section 297A.67, subdivision 29 (2025, checked October 9, 2026) exempts a solar energy system, as defined in section 216C.06, subdivision 17, from the state sales tax. The statute states the exemption only; it sets no dollar figure, and this page gives none. How it applies to a given purchase is a question for the Department of Revenue or a tax professional.
Minnesota owners and the houses they live in
Detached houses make up a larger part of Minnesota’s housing than of the coastal states’. The Census Bureau’s table B25024 (ACS 5-year 2020-2024) counts 1,680,195 single-family detached homes among 2,545,030 housing units, or 66.0%, which puts Minnesota 24th of the 50 states. In table B25032, 1,415,752 of the state’s 1,666,687 owner-occupied homes are detached: 84.9%.
Housing age and home values are on Minnesota window replacement leads, and heating fuels and the state heat pump program on Minnesota HVAC leads.
Minnesota counties with the most owner-occupied detached homes
The table lists the ten counties with the largest number of owner-occupied single-family detached homes, alongside all owner-occupied homes and the detached share. Data: ACS 5-year 2020-2024, table B25032 at county level. It is a picture of housing only, not of where any solar request comes from.
| County | Owner-occupied detached homes | Owner-occupied homes | Detached share of owner homes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hennepin | 268,853 | 338,263 | 79.5% | ACS 2020-2024, B25032 (county) |
| Ramsey | 107,794 | 134,142 | 80.4% | ACS 2020-2024, B25032 (county) |
| Dakota | 98,120 | 130,675 | 75.1% | ACS 2020-2024, B25032 (county) |
| Anoka | 91,909 | 110,229 | 83.4% | ACS 2020-2024, B25032 (county) |
| Washington | 68,777 | 85,825 | 80.1% | ACS 2020-2024, B25032 (county) |
| St. Louis | 56,968 | 62,020 | 91.9% | ACS 2020-2024, B25032 (county) |
| Olmsted | 40,773 | 47,223 | 86.3% | ACS 2020-2024, B25032 (county) |
| Wright | 39,685 | 45,420 | 87.4% | ACS 2020-2024, B25032 (county) |
| Stearns | 39,050 | 41,663 | 93.7% | ACS 2020-2024, B25032 (county) |
| Scott | 37,436 | 46,071 | 81.3% | ACS 2020-2024, B25032 (county) |
Among the ten, Stearns (93.7%) and St. Louis (91.9%) have the highest detached shares in the list, while Dakota is lowest at 75.1% in the 2020-2024 county estimates.
What the Minnesota numbers mean for a solar campaign
The Minnesota facts point to a growing rooftop market, mostly on owner-occupied houses, with rules that depend on the size of the system and the type of utility. Three practical points for a buyer:
- Growth from a smaller base. The EIA estimates show 18.1% more small-scale capacity in July 2026 than in July 2025, so the share of newer systems in the state’s installed base is rising.
- Owner homes are mostly houses. With 84.9% of owner-occupied homes detached in the 2020-2024 ACS, a homeowner filterFilterA rule that decides which leads a buyer is offered, based on fields such as vertical, sub-type, state, ZIP code, homeownership or accident details. Glossary screens out most households that could not put panels on their own roof.
- Two licenses, one job. Since July 1, 2023 the DLI rule has asked home solar sellers for a residential contractor or remodeler license, with the wiring done by a licensed electrical contractor, so a buyer’s installer partners need both covered.
None of this predicts how many homeowners will ask for solar in a given county. It sets out the housing, the installed systems and the state rules a Minnesota buyer works within.
Common filters for Minnesota solar campaigns
The fields a solar buyer filters on are few, and each one connects to a fact above:
- Homeowner status: only an owner can contract for a system on the house; most Minnesota owners live in detached homes.
- Project type: the broad kind of solar work asked about; the choices are set when the solar form is finalized.
- Timeframe: how soon the homeowner wants to proceed.
- ZIP code: where an installer’s crews work, which also tells it which utility, and so which net metering rules, a home is likely to have.
The filters for Minnesota solar leads are agreed with each buyer during onboarding. Exclusive or shared routing for solar leads is agreed with each buyer during onboarding. The standard fields are shown on the sample solar lead.
Where buyers filter in Minnesota
Most Minnesota solar installers cover a single metro area and the towns close to it. Three of the metros below cross into Wisconsin or North Dakota and are given as whole metro areas, using the Census Bureau’s July 1, 2025 estimates. Each buyer’s coverage area is agreed during onboarding, inside these metro areas or outside them.
- Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI: 3,790,295 (July 1, 2025 estimate, whole metro area)
- Duluth, MN-WI: 281,219 (July 1, 2025 estimate, whole metro area)
- Rochester: 231,184 (July 1, 2025 estimate)
- St. Cloud: 205,854 (July 1, 2025 estimate)
- Mankato: 104,907 (July 1, 2025 estimate)
- Fargo, ND-MN: 269,528 (July 1, 2025 estimate, whole metro area)
Source: Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Area population estimates, Vintage 2025 (cbsa-est2025-alldata), U.S. Census Bureau.
Consent records for Minnesota solar leads
Each Minnesota solar lead carries the TCPATCPAThe Telephone Consumer Protection Act, the federal law that governs telemarketing calls and texts, autodialers, prerecorded voice messages and the Do Not Call Registry. Glossary consent record captured on the form. The Minnesota line of the state telemarketing laws table notes the state’s own calling rules, and leads in Minnesota brings together the auto accident and home improvement facts for the state.
Minnesota solar lead questions
What license does a company selling home solar need in Minnesota?
Since July 1, 2023, a company that contracts with homeowners to install solar PV must be licensed as a residential building contractor or remodeler, and the installation must be done by a Minnesota-licensed electrical contractor, according to the Department of Labor and Industry. This is general information, not legal advice.
Do Minnesota cooperative members keep unused solar credits from year to year?
Under Minn. Stat. 216B.164, subd. 3(f), a customer of a cooperative or municipal utility with a system under 40 kW who takes kilowatt-hour credits carried forward loses any credits left at the end of the calendar year, with no additional compensation (2025 statutes). This is general information, not legal advice.
How much did Minnesota small-scale solar grow in the last year?
By 59.5 MW, or 18.1%, from 328.3 MW in July 2025 to 387.8 MW in July 2026, in the EIA’s Electric Power Monthly, Table 6.2.B.
Which Minnesota county has the highest detached share among its owner homes?
Of the ten counties with the most owner-occupied detached homes, Stearns County has the highest share, 93.7% of 41,663 owner-occupied homes, in the ACS 5-year 2020-2024 data (table B25032).
Could a buyer split Minnesota solar coverage by ZIP code instead of taking the state?
Coverage and filters are agreed with each buyer during onboarding; email us the ZIP codes you want covered.
Request Minnesota solar leads
Email us the Minnesota ZIP codes you cover, your daily volume or caps and how you take delivery. ReturnReturnA buyer's request for credit on a lead that fails agreed standards, such as a disconnected number, a duplicate or a lead outside the filters. Glossary terms are agreed on the onboarding call, before you go live.
Start small, with no long-term commitment
- No long-term contract. Pause or stop at any time.
- No setup fee and no monthly fee. You pay only for leads delivered that match your filters.
- Start with a small test volume and scale when the numbers work.
- MVA and home improvement leads are exclusive by default: each lead is sold to one buyer.
- Return terms are agreed on the onboarding call, before you go live.
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