# SolarRealCost URL: https://solarrealcost.com 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. ![A low-angle view along a residential roof of dark solar panels catching the last warm light, clear sky behind, no markings.](https://solarrealcost.com/images/gen/home-hero.png) The first year without the credit What your roof would produce from NREL's own data, what it pays back at your real electricity price with the federal credit at zero, and how a lease differs from a loan. Nobody contacts you unless you choose them. [Start your Solar Check](#check)[Browse the tools](https://solarrealcost.com/tools) No sign-up. Your answers stay on this device. Solar Check · about 1 minute ## Tell us about your roof and your bill, then pick your next step. No sign-up. Your answers are saved only on this device, and every tool on the site reuses them. Loading your saved answers… How it works 1. 1 ### Answer a few questions About a minute. Your answers stay on this device. 2. 2 ### See what fits The realistic options, what each involves, and the catch. 3. 3 ### Choose the next step Do it yourself, use a free resource, or pick who may contact you. Every option, honestly ## Least commitment first. With the catch spelled out. | Option | Good when | Watch out | | ----------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Cancel the contract you just signed | Someone came to your door and you signed, and you'd rather not have. | Three business days federally, and several states give solar contracts their own longer window. Send it in writing. | | Cut the usage before you size a system | Always, and especially if the bill is high because the house leaks heat. | A system sized to a wasteful house is a bigger system than you need, sold at a bigger price. | | Run the real numbers for your roof | Before you talk to anyone, and again after the first quote arrives. | Any payback figure that still counts a 30% federal credit is wrong for a 2026 purchase. | | Buy a system from an installer you choose | The numbers work on your roof, at your rate, without a credit. | Compare cash, loan, lease and PPA on the same system before you compare installers, and never sign at the door. | Tools ## Run the numbers yourself [All tools](https://solarrealcost.com/tools) * ![Sunlight raking across a dark panel surface at a shallow angle so the cell grid reads as texture.](https://solarrealcost.com/images/gen/tool-will-solar-pay-for-itself.png) ### 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. [Open the tool →](https://solarrealcost.com/does-solar-pay/tools/will-solar-pay-for-itself) * ![A neat grid of dark panels on a plain shingle roof seen straight down from above.](https://solarrealcost.com/images/gen/tool-how-many-panels.png) ### How many panels do you need? From what you actually use, the panel wattage available, and the production factor where you live. [Open the tool →](https://solarrealcost.com/does-solar-pay/tools/how-many-panels) * ![Aluminium mounting rail and stainless bolts laid out on grey shingle.](https://solarrealcost.com/images/gen/tool-solar-cost-estimator.png) ### Solar cost estimator Low, typical and high dollars per watt for your system size, roof complexity and state. [Open the tool →](https://solarrealcost.com/does-solar-pay/tools/solar-cost-estimator) * ![Four blank white paper folders laid in a row on a plain table in flat daylight.](https://solarrealcost.com/images/gen/tool-cash-loan-lease-or-ppa.png) ### 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. [Open the tool →](https://solarrealcost.com/does-solar-pay/tools/cash-loan-lease-or-ppa) * ![A residential electricity meter on a clapboard wall, dial face turned away and unreadable.](https://solarrealcost.com/images/gen/tool-net-metering-where-you-live.png) ### Net metering where you live What your state actually credits you for power you export, and whether existing customers are grandfathered. [Open the tool →](https://solarrealcost.com/does-solar-pay/tools/net-metering-where-you-live) * ![A plain unmarked envelope and a pen on a hall table beside a front door with daylight behind it.](https://solarrealcost.com/images/gen/tool-your-right-to-cancel.png) ### 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. [Open the tool →](https://solarrealcost.com/does-solar-pay/tools/your-right-to-cancel) Topics ## Start from your project * [![A residential roof array of dark panels seen at a low angle against an evening sky, no markings or manufacturer labels.](https://solarrealcost.com/images/gen/hub-does-solar-pay.png)Does solar still pay in 2026?Production, price and payback, with the credit at zero](https://solarrealcost.com/does-solar-pay) * [![An empty kitchen table by a window at dusk with a closed folder and a pen.](https://solarrealcost.com/images/gen/hub-how-you-pay.png)Cash, loan, lease & PPAComingThe same system, four ways, over twenty-five years](https://solarrealcost.com/how-you-pay) * [![A residential roof array photographed in flat overcast light, one panel dusty and slightly out of line with the rest.](https://solarrealcost.com/images/gen/hub-you-already-have-solar.png)You already have solarComingYour installer is gone. Now what?](https://solarrealcost.com/you-already-have-solar) ## Still not sure which of these is you? Answer a few short questions and the Solar Checkputs every option in order of fit — including the ones that cost nothing and involve nobody. You choose who, if anyone, ever contacts you. No sign-up. Your answers stay on this device. [Start your Solar Check→](#check)