Sunprint
The short answer
Federal EIA records put Xcel Energy, the Southwestern Public Service Company, in all 16 of our Panhandle and South Plains counties, from Amarillo and Canyon to Plainview, Hereford, Pampa, Borger and Dumas. Xcel doesn't buy the power your panels send to the grid on its standard meter, so here solar pays off through the power your home uses as it's made. In Lubbock, Lubbock Power & Light delivers the power and your retail plan sets the buyback. The sun is among the strongest in Texas; so is the hail.
Xcel Energy: three ways to hook up
At 2025's costs, the $20 meter only breaks even for a home that exports about as much as an 8.7 kW system makes in a whole year near Amarillo, so for almost every home the standard meter is the better choice. Our Xcel guide shows the math and how to size a system when exports earn nothing.
| Utility | What it does with solar power you send out | Yearly savings, $150 bill | Payback | Estimate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Xcel Energy | Standard meter: exports aren't bought. A second meter earns its monthly fuel cost, about 1.7¢, for $20 a month | $619 to $659 | 22 to 25 years | Estimate → |
| Lubbock Power & Light area | Your retail plan sets the buyback. We couldn't confirm LP&L's own charges for solar homes | Not estimated | No figure | Estimate → |
| Oncor area | Your retail plan sets the buyback: from nothing up to about its energy charge | $740 to $1,314 | 14 to 16 years | Estimate → |
Xcel and the Oncor area use Amarillo sun. Federal EIA records list Oncor in parts of Lynn and Terry counties. In Lubbock we don't give a figure because we couldn't confirm LP&L's charges for solar homes.
Co-ops cover much of the rural South Plains and Panhandle: South Plains Electric, Lamb County Electric, Lyntegar Electric, Swisher Electric, Bailey County Electric, Deaf Smith Electric, Lighthouse Electric, Rita Blanca Electric, Greenbelt Electric and North Plains Electric, among others. We couldn't confirm their solar terms from their own documents; ask yours for its written terms before you size a system.
Hail: plan for it
NOAA lists 1,226 hail reports in our 16 counties from 2016 to 2025, 402 of them 1.75 inches or larger; of our eight Texas regions, only Dallas-Fort Worth had more. Potter and Randall counties, home to Amarillo, lead:
Before you sign, ask which hail test the panels passed and how your homeowners policy covers them; our hail guide explains panel ratings, insurance and deductibles.
Sun and outages
NREL PVWatts, south-facing panels on a 6/12 roof, standard losses.
| Utility | Hours without power a year, 2020 to 2024 average | Leaving out major storms | Worst year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Xcel Energy | 4.4 h | 1.8 h | 9.2 h in 2020 |
| Lyntegar Electric | 7.0 h | 3.8 h | 18.9 h in 2020 |
| Deaf Smith Electric | 5.8 h | 4.9 h | 6.7 h in 2021 |
| Lamb County Electric | 0.9 h | 0.5 h | 2.2 h in 2020 |
| North Plains Electric | 18.4 h | 12.4 h | 39.9 h in 2024 |
Average hours without power per customer, from each utility's reports to the federal EIA. "Leaving out major storms" drops the major event days utilities are allowed to exclude.
Amarillo's panels make the most in May and the least in December. Grid-tied solar shuts down in an outage unless it has a battery set up for backup.
Your estimate in three steps
- Enter your billYour ZIP code, your utility and last month's bill.
- See your estimateA yearly savings range based on your utility's rates and the sun where you live.
- Choose what's nextAsk for a quote call if you want real pricing, or just keep the number.
See what solar could save you
It takes about a minute. You don't need a site visit, a commitment or a sales call to see your number.
Common questions
Is solar worth it in Amarillo?
Xcel Energy doesn't buy exported power on its standard meter, so our estimate counts only the power your home uses as it's made: about 22 to 25 years of payback for a $150 average bill at $3.00 to $3.50 a watt. A smaller system sized to your daytime use pays back sooner.
Does Xcel Energy buy back solar in the Texas Panhandle?
Only with a second meter, which costs $20 a month. Xcel then pays its monthly fuel and purchased power cost, about 1.7 cents a kWh on average in 2025. On the standard one-meter hookup, exported power isn't bought.
Who buys solar power in Lubbock?
Lubbock Power & Light delivers the power and your retail electricity plan sets the buyback. We couldn't confirm LP&L's own charges for solar homes, so ask before you sign.
How much hail does the Panhandle get?
NOAA lists 1,226 hail reports in our 16 Panhandle and South Plains counties from 2016 to 2025, 402 of them 1.75 inches or larger. Of the eight Texas regions we cover, only Dallas-Fort Worth had more.
How much sun does Amarillo get?
About 1,751 kWh a year from 1 kW of south-facing panels in NREL's PVWatts model, and 1,770 in Lubbock, against 1,523 in Dallas.
Related guides
- Solar for Xcel Energy customers in Texas
- Solar panels and hail in Texas
- Texas solar buyback plans
- How many solar panels you need in Texas
- Solar batteries and Texas power outages
- Is solar worth it in Texas?
Savings and payback are our calculator's estimates, not a utility's or an installer's. Rates and buyback terms change; check your utility's current terms before you sign. Sources: Xcel Energy: rate books (choose Texas) · Xcel Energy Texas tariff sheet IV-86 (PDF) · PUC Project 57479: 2025 fuel reports, including Xcel (SPS) · U.S. Department of Energy: the road to resilience with rooftop solar · U.S. EIA Form 861: service territories, reliability and sales data, 2020 to 2024 · NOAA NCEI Storm Events database, 2016 to 2025 · NREL PVWatts v8. Reviewed October 2026.
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