Solar cost calculator
What people near you actually paid for solar, from the public record. Two answers and you have a number.
No phone number. No sign-up. No sales calls.
Buying or leasing in 2026
- Buying. The federal tax credit for homeowners who buy solar ended on December 31, 2025. The prices above are before any incentive, so they are what you should expect to pay.
- Leasing or a power purchase agreement. The installer owns the panels and can still claim a federal business credit. Some of it can come back to you as a lower monthly payment. You pay less at the start, and the installer keeps the savings from the credit and part of your bill.
- Ask for both. Get a cash price and a lease price from each installer, and compare the cash price with the range above.
Most solar jobs on the permit record
How we work it out
Your bill divided by your price per kWh gives the power you use today. Anything you plan to add is on top: an electric car uses about 0.3 kWh a mile. 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 in ZIP codes where the city issues permits: systems they own, without a battery, before any incentive. Savings count what your panels make at today's price. Los Angeles (LADWP) and New York (Con Edison) credit power you send to the grid at the full rate. San Francisco (PG&E net billing) pays less for it, so there we show a range from using 30% to 70% of your solar at home. Austin Energy credits every kWh your panels make at its Value of Solar rate, 9.91 cents, and bills everything you use at the normal rate.
Prices: Berkeley Lab, Tracking the Sun (2024 edition). Output per kW, heating and cooling use, prices per kWh and export credits are rough typical figures for each city. Installers: city permit records. Data updated October 6, 2026.