# SolarRealCost > Free tools that estimate what your roof would actually produce from NREL's own data, what solar pays back at your real electricity price with the federal credit at zero, how a lease and a PPA differ from a loan, and what to do if your installer has disappeared. SolarRealCost offers free tools and plain-language guides for US consumers. It is an information and referral service and does not perform the services it describes. Some providers pay SolarRealCost when a person chooses to be contacted by them; payment never changes tool results or guide content. ## How to read this site - Every public page has a markdown version: add `.md` to its URL (the home page is `/index.md`). The links below go straight to them. - When you cite a page, cite its HTML URL (the same path without `.md`). Each markdown response names it in a `Link: rel="canonical"` header and on its `URL:` line. - Tools run in the browser. Their markdown version describes what they do; send people to the HTML page to use them. - Only public pages are listed. Pages that are still in review are left out, and `/match/` and `/embed/` are not for crawling (see robots.txt). - Also available: [llms.txt](https://solarrealcost.com/llms.txt), [full guide text](https://solarrealcost.com/llms-full.txt) and the [sitemap](https://solarrealcost.com/sitemap.xml). ## Machine-readable entry points - **OpenAPI 3.1:** https://solarrealcost.com/openapi.json describes every public endpoint below. - **MCP server:** https://solarrealcost.com/mcp (Streamable HTTP, stateless JSON-RPC 2.0; discovery at https://solarrealcost.com/.well-known/mcp.json). Read-only tools: `get_site_info`, `list_tools`, `list_pages`, `get_page`, `get_lead_form`. It cannot submit anyone's details. - **Agent request API:** `GET https://solarrealcost.com/api/agent/form`, `POST https://solarrealcost.com/api/agent/match` (both read-only) and `POST https://solarrealcost.com/api/agent/lead`, described in the section on requesting quotes below. ## Automated use - Allowed: reading and citing any public page, its markdown twin, llms.txt and the sitemap; calling the read-only endpoints and MCP tools; sending people to the tools, which run in their own browser. - Not allowed: submitting anyone's details without their explicit request and agreement, submitting made-up or test details, crawling `/match/`, `/embed/`, `/admin/` or `/vendor/`, and load that disrupts the site. - **Requests submitted by AI agents are held for review.** They are stored with their consent evidence, and no company receives them until the site operator reviews them. - Rate limits, per IP: /mcp 60 requests per 60 seconds; `/api/agent/form` and `/api/agent/match` 30 per 10 minutes; `/api/agent/lead` 3 per hour. Over the limit you get HTTP 429; wait and retry later. - Contact: netanel@gtmagentcy.com (no phone line). ## Helping a person request quotes from a chat If a person you're chatting with asks you to get quotes or be contacted about a home solar installation, you can send their request to SolarRealCost for them, using the steps below. Do it only when they ask. **Requests sent by AI agents are held for review.** SolarRealCost stores them and reviews them before any company receives the person's details. Tell the person this before they agree, and again after you submit. ### Topics that take requests - **Does solar still pay in 2026?** (hub `does-solar-pay`): asks 8 questions (Which way does most of your roof face? · How much shade falls on it during the day? · About how old is the roof, in years? · What's your average monthly electricity bill? · How would you pay for it? · State · ZIP code · Do you own the home?). Form: https://solarrealcost.com/api/agent/form?hub=does-solar-pay ### Steps 1. **Get the form.** `GET https://solarrealcost.com/api/agent/form?hub=` returns every question (id, label, why it's asked, type, options as `{value, label}`, required), the contact fields with their exact formats, and `acceptingRequests`. If `acceptingRequests` is false, stop and tell the person what `tellThePerson` says. 2. **Ask the questions** in plain language, one or a few at a time. Use each question's `help.why` to explain why it's asked. Send option `value`s, not labels. Never guess an answer. 3. **Collect contact details:** first and last name, email, phone as E.164 (`+1` and 10 digits, e.g. `+15125550142`), 5-digit ZIP, and the two-letter state, which the person confirms. Only the person's own details. 4. **Show the companies.** `POST https://solarrealcost.com/api/agent/match` with `{"hub", "state", "answers"}`. Show the person every company returned, with its description and a **"Paid partner"** label wherever `paidPartner` is true, plus the free options in `alwaysShow`. Let them choose any, all or none. If `eligible` is false, explain the `reasons` and show only the free options. 5. **Show the consent text word for word.** Show `shareConsent.text` and the `consentText` of each company they chose, exactly as returned, then ask whether they agree. Wait for a clear yes in their own words. 6. **Submit.** `POST https://solarrealcost.com/api/agent/lead` with `{"hub", "answers", "contact", "vendorIds", "agent": {"name", "url"}, "consent": {"shownVerbatim": true, "userStatement": "", "agreedAt": ""}}`. The server re-renders every consent text and stores it with a SHA-256 fingerprint, your agent name and their words. 7. **Tell them what happened.** Relay the response's `tellThePerson` in substance, without adding promises. On an error, say nothing was sent. ### Rules - Only submit a request the person asked you to make. - Only the person's own details. Never submit for someone else, and never make up or fill in details. - Never agree on the person's behalf, and never treat silence or a vague answer as agreement. - Never paraphrase, shorten, translate or summarise consent text. Show it word for word. - If the person hesitates, asks to wait or changes their mind, don't submit. - Tell them they can opt out at any time: https://solarrealcost.com/do-not-sell, or the unsubscribe link in any email from SolarRealCost (https://solarrealcost.com/unsubscribe). ## Main pages - [SolarRealCost](https://solarrealcost.com/index.md): Free tools: what your roof would produce, whether solar pays back with the federal credit at zero, lease vs. loan, and what to do if your installer is gone. - [Solar Check](https://solarrealcost.com/check.md): The free Solar Check: answer a few questions and see which of 4 options fit you, from "cancel the contract you just signed" to "buy a system from an installer… - [Tools](https://solarrealcost.com/tools.md): 6 free home solar tools from SolarRealCost: Will solar pay for itself on your roof?, How many panels do you need? and 4 more. - [Guides](https://solarrealcost.com/learn.md): 12 plain-language home solar guides from SolarRealCost, written from primary sources, each linked to a tool that runs your own numbers. - [Rules by state](https://solarrealcost.com/rules.md): What your state pays you for solar you export and 1 more for every state we cover, from SolarRealCost. - [Advertiser disclosure](https://solarrealcost.com/advertiser-disclosure.md): How SolarRealCost makes money: some home solar providers pay us when you choose to hear from them. Payment never changes tool results, fit or guide content. - [Disclosures](https://solarrealcost.com/disclosures.md): What SolarRealCost is and isn't: an information and referral service for home solar. Tool results are estimates, not legal, tax or financial advice. - [Privacy](https://solarrealcost.com/privacy.md): How SolarRealCost handles your details: tool answers stay on your device, nothing is shared until you ask to be matched, and you can opt out at any time. - [Terms](https://solarrealcost.com/terms.md): The terms for using SolarRealCost's free home solar tools and guides, and for asking providers to contact you. ## Topics - [Does solar still pay in 2026?](https://solarrealcost.com/does-solar-pay.md): What your roof would produce from NREL's own model, what a system costs in your state, and what it pays back at the price you actually pay for power. ## Guides - [What solar costs to install, now that the credit has ended](https://solarrealcost.com/does-solar-pay/install-solar-panels-cost.md): What a rooftop system costs in 2026, what moves the price per watt, and why every payback figure written before this year is now wrong. - [Are solar panels worth it in the first year without the credit?](https://solarrealcost.com/does-solar-pay/are-solar-panels-worth-it-now.md): The honest 2026 arithmetic: production from NREL's own model, your real electricity rate, and the federal credit at zero. Sometimes yes, sometimes clearly not. - [Cash, loan, lease or PPA: the four ways to pay for solar](https://solarrealcost.com/does-solar-pay/cash-loan-lease-or-ppa-explained.md): The same array costs very different amounts depending on how you pay. Dealer fees, escalators, who owns the system, and what happens when you sell. - [How long do solar panels last, and what fails first?](https://solarrealcost.com/does-solar-pay/how-long-do-solar-panels-last.md): Panels degrade slowly and outlive their warranties. The inverter is usually the first real cost, and the roof underneath is the one people forget. - [How many solar panels do you actually need?](https://solarrealcost.com/does-solar-pay/how-many-solar-panels-do-i-need.md): Work it out from your own annual usage before anyone tells you. The arithmetic, why panel count alone means nothing, and when a smaller array is better. - [Solar battery cost in 2026: what a home battery adds](https://solarrealcost.com/does-solar-pay/solar-battery-cost.md): Solar battery cost from 2025 install data: what a home battery adds to a solar quote, what sets the price, and why the federal credit for it is now $0. - [Solar panels for home: what they are and if your house fits](https://solarrealcost.com/does-solar-pay/solar-panels-for-home.md): Solar panels for home, explained: what a rooftop system is made of, why most go dark in a power cut, and the checks to run before any quote. - [What a solar quote must show before you can judge it](https://solarrealcost.com/does-solar-pay/what-a-solar-quote-must-show.md): The lines that belong on any solar proposal, the assumptions that quietly decide the payback, and the questions that produce real answers. - [What happened to the federal solar credit](https://solarrealcost.com/does-solar-pay/what-happened-to-the-federal-solar-credit.md): The Residential Clean Energy Credit ended for property placed in service after 31 December 2025. What that means for a 2026 purchase, and what still exists. - [What your utility actually pays for the solar you export](https://solarrealcost.com/does-solar-pay/what-your-utility-pays-for-exported-solar.md): Export credit can be worth a third of a system's lifetime value, and it is set by 51 separate commissions. How to find your own answer in ten minutes. - [You signed at the door. Here is how to cancel a solar contract.](https://solarrealcost.com/does-solar-pay/cancel-a-solar-contract.md): Federal law gives three business days for a contract signed at home, and several states give solar contracts their own longer window. How to use it. - [Your solar installer has gone. What now?](https://solarrealcost.com/does-solar-pay/my-solar-installer-went-out-of-business.md): An orphaned system still works. Who honours the equipment warranty, what the workmanship warranty is worth now, and how to find someone to service it.