Solar cost and payback calculator

Tell us about your home and what runs on electricity. We size the system and show what homeowners in your city paid for one that size.

How it works

We estimate your yearly use from the size of your home and what you ticked. An electric car uses about 0.3 kWh a mile. If you enter your monthly kWh from your bill, we use that in place of the estimate. System size is that yearly use divided by what one kilowatt of panels makes in your city in a year, on a south-facing roof.

The price range is the middle half of what homeowners paid for systems of that size: systems they own, before any tax credit or rebate, without a battery. Savings assume every kWh the panels make replaces one you buy, at today's price. In California, net billing pays less for power you send to the grid, so real payback there runs longer.

Prices: Berkeley Lab, Tracking the Sun (2024 edition). Output per kW, heating and cooling use, and the price per kWh are rough typical figures for each city. Data updated September 25, 2026.