What will solar cost at your home?
Solar's price is mostly your system size times a local install rate ($/watt) — and in 2026, with the federal residential tax credit (Section 25D) expired, cash and loan buyers pay the full sticker with $0federal credit. This estimator sizes a system from your electric bill, prices it at your state's rate, and projects 25-year savings against rising utility prices. Last updated June 30, 2026.
Monthly shape modeled with NREL PVWatts® v8 (NSRDB 2020 TMY) — updated July 18, 2026.
Electricity 15.8¢/kWh — U.S. EIA, 12-month average through April 2026.
Data: U.S. EIA · OpenEI URDB · Google Solar · NREL PVWatts · DSIRE · IRS · ENERGY STAR · industry surveys — see all sources
How this estimate works
We size your system from annual consumption: if you enter a monthly bill, we convert it to kWh at your state's retail rate, then divide by local peak sun hours, days per year, and an 80% performance ratio (inverter, wiring, dust, and temperature losses). The result is rounded up to whole 400-watt panels.
Gross cost is system watts times your state's installed $/watt. From there: the federal credit is $0 (25D expired 2025-12-31), we subtract any state incentive to get your net cost, then project 25 years of savings against a 3.5%/yr electricity-price rise, 0.5%/yr panel degradation, and your state's net-metering factor. Lease and PPA show $0 down with an indicative monthly rate instead.
This is a ballpark for pre-qualification, not a final engineering design. Data last updated June 30, 2026.
Frequently asked questions
- Is solar worth it without the tax credit in 2026?
- It can be, but the math is tighter. The 30% residential federal credit (Section 25D) expired on December 31, 2025, so cash and loan buyers in 2026 pay the full system price. Whether solar pays off now depends mostly on your electricity rate, local sun hours, and your state's net-metering rules — in high-rate, high-sun states the payback is still in the 8–13 year range, while low-rate states stretch longer.
- How is the payback period calculated?
- We take your system's net cost (gross price minus any state incentive — the federal credit is now $0) and divide it against your annual electricity savings. Savings grow each year as power prices rise (we assume 3.5%/yr) and shrink slightly as panels degrade (0.5%/yr). Payback is the year your cumulative savings cross the net cost; we interpolate the fractional year for a precise figure.
- How much do solar panels cost in 2026?
- A typical home installs an 8–11 kW system. At a national average of about $2.58 per watt installed, that's roughly $18,000–$28,000 gross before any state incentive. Prices vary widely by state — installed cost per watt runs from around $2.20 in low-cost markets to over $3.00 in higher-cost ones.
- Should I lease or buy solar panels?
- Buying (cash or loan) means you own the system and keep all the savings, but you carry the full cost now that the federal credit is gone. A lease or PPA is $0 down: the installer owns the panels, claims the 30% commercial credit (Section 48), and passes part of it back as a lower monthly rate. Leasing lowers risk and upfront cost but caps your long-term savings and can complicate a home sale.
- Do solar batteries still get a tax credit?
- Not for residential cash or loan purchases after 2025. Standalone and paired home batteries were covered by the same 25D credit, which expired alongside the panel credit. Batteries still make financial sense in states with NEM 3.0-style net metering (like California), where exported power is credited well below retail and storing your own generation is worth more.