Solar Panel Cost Calculator

Solar energy cost has plummeted in the past decade. The average cost of solar panels is less than half what it was ten years ago.

As of the time we updated this page (June 2020), most solar panel prices fall in the range of 60 cents to 70 cents per watt. Premium panels can climb above $1 per watt depending on their size, quality, and where they are manufactured. Our solar panel calculator uses standard size panels to estimate the cost of your system.

Solar panel installation cost varies by provider. A turnkey solution will charge 100-200% the cost of equipment to perform the installation. If your 6.6 kW system costs $10k in equipment, they may charge you $20k for the installation, bringing the grand total for the project to $30,000.

The other option is to buy direct from a distributor (like us) and either install it yourself or hire a local contractor to do it for you. If you choose the DIY route, we have instructional videos and a brilliant tech support team to walk you through the project. Some people spend less than $1000 installing their own system (labor costs included).

Even if you hire a local contractor, they’ll charge you somewhere between 75 cents and $1.25 per watt. They’d install the system above for around $6000-$7000, which is less than half the amount you’d pay to a turnkey installer.

That’s why you’re here! Our solar power calculator takes the information you provide about your energy usage patterns and returns our best guess about how much solar energy you might need to generate.

We must stress that this is just an estimate. Several more factors will impact your efficiency, like shade, roof material, temperature, mount angle, and so on.

While we provide the most accurate figure we can, it’s impossible to provide an exact number until we know every detail about your project. Consult with a solar design technician to build a system that accounts for the inefficiencies and obstacles unique to your project.

It usually is. Between the tax incentives, like the federal solar tax credit and the reduction of your energy bill, you tend to earn more money over the life of the system than you spent on it up front.

Here’s a simple way to approximate your solar ROI (return on investment):

• Start with your estimated system price, which this calculator provides you.
• Divide that number by the cost of electricity from your local utility company. The national average is $0.13 per watt, but that can fluctuate dramatically. A Google search for “electricity rates (your location)” will likely surface your local rate.
• Divide the result by your annual electricity usage in kilowatt hours. You entered your monthly usage in step two; multiply that number by 12 to get a rough estimate of your yearly usage.

All done? You should have a one- or two-digit number. That number is your payback period, measured in years. That’s the time it takes to break even on the initial investment in your system.

Here’s a concrete example, using national averages for energy rates and consumption:

$10,000 system price ÷ $0.13/kWh ÷ 10932 kWh/year = 7.04 Years

Most solar panels are warrantied for 25 years. You can divide the final number (in this case, 7.04) into 25 to calculate the total payoff of your investment into solar. In this case, our example system would pay for itself 3.55 times over the warrantied life of the system.