Production, price and payback, with the credit at zero
Does solar still pay in 2026?
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.
Tools
Will solar pay for itself on your roof?
Production from NREL's model, at your real rate, with the federal credit shown at $0 and dated.
How many panels do you need?
From what you actually use, the panel wattage available, and the production factor where you live.
Solar cost estimator
Low, typical and high dollars per watt for your system size, roof complexity and state.
Cash, loan, lease or PPA
The same system four ways over 25 years — escalators, dealer fees, who owns the tax benefit, and what happens when you sell.
Net metering where you live
What your state actually credits you for power you export, and whether existing customers are grandfathered.
Your right to cancel
The three business days the FTC gives you to cancel a contract signed at your home, what your state adds, and who to call for free.
Guides
Start here
What solar costs to install, now that the credit has ended
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.
2 min read
Are solar panels worth it in the first year without the credit?
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.
2 min read
Cash, loan, lease or PPA: the four ways to pay for solar
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.
2 min read
How long do solar panels last, and what fails first?
Panels degrade slowly and outlive their warranties. The inverter is usually the first real cost, and the roof underneath is the one people forget.
2 min read
How many solar panels do you actually need?
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.
2 min read
What a solar quote must show before you can judge it
The lines that belong on any solar proposal, the assumptions that quietly decide the payback, and the questions that produce real answers.
2 min read
What happened to the federal solar credit
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.
2 min read
What your utility actually pays for the solar you export
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.
2 min read
You signed at the door. Here is how to cancel a solar contract.
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.
1 min read
Your solar installer has gone. What now?
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.
2 min read
Questions this topic answers
- Are solar panels worth it now that the federal credit has ended?
- How much do solar panels cost to install?
- How many panels do I need?
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