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
Best angle for solar panels: tilt, direction and your roof
The best angle for solar panels is roughly your latitude, facing south, but on a house the roof pitch usually decides. What tilt and direction change.
5 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
Do solar panels work on cloudy days? What the data shows
Do solar panels work on cloudy days? Yes, at lower output. National-lab data for Seattle, Pittsburgh and Phoenix shows what clouds and winter cost a year.
5 min read
Does solar increase home value? What the studies found
Does solar increase home value? Berkeley Lab found buyers paid more for homes with owned solar, about $4 per watt, but not for leased systems. The limits.
5 min read
Ground mounted solar panels: when a yard array beats the roof
Ground mounted solar panels make sense when the roof is shaded, old or faces the wrong way. What a ground mount adds: footings, a trench, setbacks and permits.
8 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 kWh does a house use? EIA averages and your own number
How many kWh does a house use? EIA puts the average U.S. home at 863 kWh a month in 2024, about 28 a day. State averages, reading your bills, and solar sizing.
6 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
How much energy does a solar panel produce, city by city
How much energy does a solar panel produce? From national-lab PVWatts runs, a 400-watt panel makes about 435 kWh a year in Seattle and 702 in Phoenix.
4 min read
PVWatts calculator: what to enter and how to read the result
How to use the PVWatts calculator for a home roof: what to type in each box, what the monthly and annual kWh mean, and what the estimate leaves out.
8 min read
Solar battery cost in 2026: what a home battery adds
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.
5 min read
Solar incentives by state: what's left in 2026 and how to find yours
Solar incentives by state after section 25D ended: the five kinds of state and utility programs left, how to look yours up in DSIRE, and how each changes payback.
8 min read
Solar inverter: what it does, the types, and the cost
A solar inverter turns your panels' DC power into AC for the house. The main types, why it shuts off in an outage, and why to budget for replacing it.
6 min read
Solar panel efficiency: what the number really tells you
Solar panel efficiency explained: what the rating measures, the roughly 21% typical of home panels, why heat cuts it, and when paying more for it makes sense.
6 min read
Solar panel installation: every step from contract to switch-on
Solar panel installation, step by step: site visit, design, permit, install, inspection and utility approval, how long each took in NREL data, and when to switch on.
8 min read
Solar panel scams: the pitches to spot and what to do
Solar panel scams follow a few patterns: panels offered at no charge, fake officials, rushed tablet signatures. How to spot them, and what to do if you signed.
5 min read
Solar panel size: how big panels are and what fits
Solar panel size explained: how wattage and efficiency set a panel's area, how much roof a typical 7.7 kW home system covers, and how to check your roof.
4 min read
Solar panel warranty: what each one covers and what to ask
A solar panel warranty can be several. What to ask about panels, inverter, installation and roof, what the FTC says to check, and how fast panels wear.
4 min read
Solar panels for home: what they are and if your house fits
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.
6 min read
Solar roof replacement: redo the roof before the panels
Solar roof replacement: why an aging roof should be redone before or with solar, what DOE figures show for doing both at once, and what to ask if panels are up.
4 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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