There are a handful of potential reasons depending on where in the US you're looking at, as usual there is wide variation by state and by urban/rural divide: -

There are a handful of potential reasons depending on where in the US you're looking at, as usual there is wide variation by state and by urban/rural divide: - some states have little in the way of tax or other financial incentive to help offset initial installation cost - some neighborhoods have various visual restrictions, self-imposed or otherwise, that may not accommodate solar panels - some power companies have campaigned to limit net metering, which limits the cost savings homeowners can see from solar to protect the utility - some local or state government officials view renewables as a "political" issue in the sense of "yuppies getting bent out of shape about global warming" and make efforts to limit renewable usage for political points - owners of most rental buildings don't pay for electric, the tenants do, but the tenants cant make capital improvements and the owner has little incentive to