Solar cost and payback calculator
Tell me your ZIP and your average monthly electric bill. I'll size a system for your home, price it with current quotes in your area and show payback without the expired federal credit. Works for any US ZIP.
Your solar estimate
Payback—
System size—
Cost before incentives—
Savings per year—
How I calculate this
Already have a quote? Check if the price is fairEnter the installer's price and system size. I compare it with local quotes and your utility's rates.
Price per watt—
Payback—
Savings per year—
20-year net—
Export credit is empty, so power sent to the grid counts as $0 — a lower bound.
No federal tax credit, no rate increases, panel degradation, financing or maintenance. If a quote subtracts a 30% federal credit, ask for a price without it (why). Full method.
I don't have local price data for this ZIP yet — installers can still quote your home.
Get quotesThen compare prices with the six-step quote check.
Areas covered
- Phoenix, AZ — 57 ZIP codes within 12.8 miles of the center
- Tucson, AZ — 20 ZIP codes within 8.8 miles of the center
- San Antonio, TX — 48 ZIP codes within 12.6 miles of the center
- Austin, TX — 32 ZIP codes within 10.2 miles of the center
- San Diego, CA — 41 ZIP codes within 10.2 miles of the center
- Fresno, CA — 17 ZIP codes within 6.1 miles of the center
- Chandler, AZ — 4 ZIP codes within 4.6 miles of the center
- Scottsdale, AZ — 6 ZIP codes within 7.7 miles of the center
- Gilbert, AZ — 5 ZIP codes within 4.7 miles of the center
- Glendale, AZ — 12 ZIP codes within 4.6 miles of the center
- Tempe, AZ — 5 ZIP codes within 3.6 miles of the center
- Peoria, AZ — 1 ZIP codes within 7.5 miles of the center
- Surprise, AZ — 4 ZIP codes within 5.9 miles of the center
- San Jose, CA — 21 ZIP codes within 7.5 miles of the center
- Bakersfield, CA — 5 ZIP codes within 6.9 miles of the center
- Clovis, CA — 2 ZIP codes within 2.9 miles of the center
- Chula Vista, CA — 5 ZIP codes within 4.0 miles of the center
- Oceanside, CA — 3 ZIP codes within 3.6 miles of the center
- Carlsbad, CA — 4 ZIP codes within 3.5 miles of the center
- Toms River, NJ — 2 ZIP codes within 3.5 miles of the center
- New York, NY — 160 ZIP codes within 9.8 miles of the center
- Elizabeth, NJ — 4 ZIP codes within 2.0 miles of the center
- Yonkers, NY — 6 ZIP codes within 2.4 miles of the center
How the checker works
- Production: NREL PVWatts for the area center, fixed south-facing roof at 20°.
- Energy charge: median of current standard residential plans of your utility in the OpenEI Utility Rate Database.
- Export credit: the utility's tariff, checked by hand. Where the utility has no single rate, you enter it.
- Payback = (quote price − state tax credit) ÷ yearly savings.
Before signing, go through the six-step quote check.