Last year, the United States solar industry installed 43 gigawatts of new capacity. As solar projects continue to expand across the United States, state policymakers are increasingly focused on a question that comes up decades after construction: What happens when projects reach the end of their operating lives?
The 50 States of Solar Decommissioning: 2025 Snapshot report from the NC Clean Energy Technology Center and DSIRE Insight found that solar decommissioning policy is becoming an increasingly active area of state regulation, as lawmakers and landowners seek to clarify who is responsible for removing equipment, restoring land, and covering end-of-life costs.
Planning for the full project life cycle
Solar decommissioning generally refers to the removal of solar panels, racking, wiring, fencing, inverters, transformers, access roads, storage systems, and other project infrastructure, followed by site restoration. Most solar projects are expected to operate for 25 to 30 years, meaning the first large wave of utility-scale decommissioning is still ahead. But rapid deployment is pushing states to set rules now.
The report notes that there is still no consistent national standard for solar decommissioning. However, the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) is developing a standard for decommissioning solar and energy storage equipment. In the meantime, states are creating their own frameworks. For developers, landowners, and state and local governments, that means bringing decommissioning into the conversation around solar development now.
As of 2025, the DSIRE report found that 23 states had statewide solar decommissioning policies, 10 had statewide/local hybrid policies, one had a statewide optional policy, and one offered a state model template for local governments to adopt. More than two dozen state legislatures considered or enacted bills in 2025 related to solar and battery storage decommissioning, financial assurance, recycling, or material disposal.
Decommissioning approaches vary nationwide
The country’s largest solar markets show how varied decommissioning approaches can be. Across the top solar states by installed capacity — California, Texas, Florida, Arizona, North Carolina, Illinois, Nevada, New York, Virginia, and Georgia — several themes are emerging. Financial assurance is becoming the backbone of decommissioning policy, with states relying on bonds, letters of credit, escrow arrangements, and other mechanisms to ensure that projects can be decommissioned. Agricultural land is another major driver, especially in states focused on restoring farmland, protecting drainage systems, and returning land to productive use.
Battery storage is also an essential part of the decommissioning conversation, as solar-plus-storage becomes the go-to model for projects. Some states include co-located storage in solar decommissioning rules, while others are developing separate storage-specific requirements. Recycling remains less uniform, though more states are beginning to address panel reuse, recycling facility reporting, and disposal limits.
Top solar states demonstrate variability
Among the top solar states, policy approaches vary widely. Some states have statewide or hybrid state-local rules. Others are still relying more heavily on local processes or have only considered legislation that has not yet passed.
California, the nation’s largest solar market, uses a statewide/local hybrid model. Under its Solar Use Easement framework, project owners must submit decommissioning plans and financial assurance to the local government, with review and approval by the California Department of Conservation. The policy emphasizes soil management, site restoration, equipment removal, and five-year financial assurance updates.
Texas takes a landowner-focused approach for certain private, non-utility-owned solar projects, requiring equipment removal, land restoration, reseeding, and reuse or recycling of eligible components. In 2025, Texas enacted laws addressing solar component recycling and battery energy storage facility agreements.
Florida and Arizona show that large solar markets do not always have detailed statewide decommissioning frameworks. Florida lawmakers considered 2025 bills that would have allowed counties to require decommissioning of solar facilities over 2 MW on agricultural land, but the bills failed. Arizona is not included among the report’s state policy profiles.
North Carolina applies decommissioning requirements to new solar projects of 2 MW or more, including ancillary battery storage. Project owners must register with the Department of Environmental Quality and submit a decommissioning plan, cost estimate, financial assurance, and fees.
Illinois’ policy is driven largely by concerns about farmland. Solar facilities over 500 kW on third-party agricultural land must file an Agricultural Impact Mitigation Agreement and submit a deconstruction plan to the county.
Nevada focuses on larger utility-scale projects, requiring certain ground-mounted projects over 70 MW to file surplus asset retirement plans. New York requires projects of at least 25 MW, including co-located storage, to submit detailed decommissioning and restoration plans covering funding, timelines, safety, recycling, and future site use.
Virginia requires local governments to secure written decommissioning agreements as part of solar approvals. In contrast, Georgia requires operators under new or renewed solar facility agreements to remove equipment and restore land to its prior condition.
The rapid buildout of solar has made decommissioning less of a distant issue and more of a near-term policy design question. The report shows that states are beginning to fill the gap, but the top solar markets are moving at different speeds and with different priorities.
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