Solar Panel Installation Cost Calculator
A 9.4 kW system — 23 panels, enough to cover a household using 10,800 kWh a year — runs about $24,369 in Atlanta, or $2.58 a watt before any incentive. ⚠️ Size comes from your electricity bill, not your floor area. And 35% of that figure is not hardware or labour at all — it is what it cost the company to find you.
Estimate the cost for your home
Estimated cost of the installation, before any incentive
$24,708
typical · range $16,623 to $32,794 · 9.43 kW · 23 panels · $2.62 per watt · 10,948 kWh a year
Labour priced at national wages. Enter a ZIP code to price it for your area. 85% of this figure comes from modelled material prices — each line shows its own uncertainty.
Priced from bls.gov Aug 2026how every line is sourced
The one input that changes the answer for you.
The band this calculator is calibrated on. A kilowatt of panels returns somewhere around 1,350 kilowatt-hours a year before losses from shade, orientation and dirt.
The straightforward case and what the model is calibrated on: a flashed mount lagged into a rafter, sealed under the shingle above it. ⚠️ Every one of those is a deliberate hole in your roof, which is why who does it matters more than which racking is used.
Each panel works independently, so shade on one does not pull down the rest, and a failure takes out one panel instead of the array. It costs more up front and it puts electronics on the roof, where they are harder to reach — which matters when one eventually fails.
What each choice does
| Cloudy north | 11.1 kW | $30,956 |
|---|---|---|
| The middle of the country, and the south-east | 9.4 kW | $24,708 |
| The desert south-west | 7.8 kW | $20,863 |
| Asphalt shingle | ×1 | $24,708 |
| Standing seam metal | ×0.85 | $24,140 |
| Clay or concrete tile | ×1.75 | $27,553 |
| Flat or low slope | ×1.25 | $25,657 |
| String inverter | — | $23,388 |
| Microinverters | — | $24,708 |
⚠️ Sun region changes the size of the array rather than its price per watt: less sun means more panels for the same output. Each panel is modelled at 410 W.
1 / 4
The figure above is already calculated. Each step just makes it more yours, and you can stop at any of them.
Square footage is the wrong question
| A house that uses | Needs | Panels | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6,000 kWh — Gas heat, gas water, no EV | 5.3 kW | 13 | $15,088 |
| 10,800 kWh — US average household | 9.4 kW | 23 | $24,708 |
| 16,000 kWh — All-electric, or an EV | 13.9 kW | 34 | $37,689 |
| 24,000 kWh — Heat pump, EV and a pool | 20.9 kW | 51 | $54,049 |
Two of the questions Google shows alongside this search ask what solar costs for a 2,000 square foot house, and it is a question with no answer. Floor area does not size a solar system — consumption does, and the same 2,000 square feet with gas heat and no electric car uses a third of what it uses with a heat pump and an EV. The systems that follow differ by a factor of four in price. ⚠️ The number this calculator wants is printed on your electricity bill: kilowatt-hours for the year, or the last twelve months added up. If you put in floor area you are guessing, and so is anybody who quotes you from it.
Whether it fits in the panel you have
| Main breaker | Backfeed allowed | Fits this system | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 A | 4,800 W | ⚠️ no | $27,109 |
| 125 A | 6,000 W | ⚠️ no | $27,109 |
| 150 A | 7,200 W | ⚠️ no | $27,109 |
| 200 A | 9,600 W | yes | $24,708 |
The fourth question on this search is about “the 20 rule”, and what people usually mean is the 120% rule: your electrical panel has a limit on how much current can be pushed into it while the main breaker feeds it from the other end, and the two together cannot exceed 120% of what the busbar is rated for. ⚠️ The consequence surprises people. A 200 amp panel allows about 40 amps of backfeed, which is 9.6 kilowatts of inverter — a 10 kilowatt system already does not fit. Below 200 amps the numbers get small fast, and notice that the cost is the same for 100, 125 and 150 amps: the fix is the same fix. This system wants 39.3 amps and your panel allows 40. No other solar calculator asks what size your panel is, and it is the difference between a quote and a surprise.
The panels will outlast the roof
| Replace the roof first, then install | $14,547 |
|---|---|
| Replace it later, with the array on it | $18,259 |
| Removing and reinstalling the array | $3,711 |
A solar array lasts twenty-five years or more. An asphalt roof does not, and this is the arithmetic that appears on no solar quote: the roofing and electrical hours it took to put the array up have to be paid again to take it down and put it back. $3,711 on this system, at today’s wages, and the roof itself costs the same either way — priced on our own roof model. ⚠️ So the rule is simple and worth applying before signing anything: if the roof has under a decade left, replace it first. If it is a standing seam metal roof, this problem does not exist at all, which is part of why metal is the cheapest roof to put solar on.
| Line item | Qty | Cost | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design, permit and the interconnection application1 per installation | 1each | $700–$2,600 | estimated±58% |
| Panelssystem watts | 9,430watt | $2,735–$5,281 | estimated±32% |
| Microinverters, one per panelsystem watts, with microinverters | 9,430watt | $1,980–$3,395 | estimated±26% |
| Racking, flashings and roof attachmentssystem watts × roof factor | 9,430watt | $1,226–$2,923 | estimated±41% |
| Wiring, conduit, disconnects and the production metersystem watts | 9,430watt | $1,037–$2,263 | estimated±37% |
| On the roof: mounting, flashing and laying the arraykilowatts × 3.4 hours × roof factor | 32.1hour | $1,661–$1,785 | sourced |
| Electrical: conduit, terminations, disconnects and commissioningkilowatts × 2.6 hours + 8 hours | 32.5hour | $1,917–$2,060 | sourced |
| Customer acquisition, sales and company overheadsystem watts | 9,430watt | $5,187–$11,788 | estimated±39% |
| Monitoring, commissioning and the utility sign-off1 per installation | 1each | $180–$700 | estimated±59% |
| Total | $16,623–$32,794 | ±33% |
Where these numbers come from
- Square feet do not size a solar system
- Two of the four questions Google shows alongside this search ask what solar costs for a 2,000 square foot house, and the honest answer is that the question has no answer. $14,881 for a house that uses 6,000 kWh a year, $53,299 for one that uses 24,000 — and both of those can be 2,000 square feet. What separates them is gas heating against a heat pump, and whether there is an electric car on the driveway. ⚠️ This calculator asks for annual kilowatt-hours because that number is printed on your bill and floor area is not a proxy for it. If you only have a month, multiply by twelve; even that beats guessing from square footage. US Department of Energy, Homeowner’s Guide to Going Solar (retrieved 2026-08-24) is the federal starting point for the rest of the decision.
- Whether it fits in the panel you already have
- The rule people are reaching for when they ask about “the 20 rule” is the 120% rule, and it is the item no solar calculator asks about. A panel has a limit on how much current the solar can push into it while the main breaker feeds it from the other end: the two together cannot exceed 120% of the busbar rating. A 200 amp panel allows about 9,600 watts of inverter, so a 10 kilowatt system already does not fit; a 100 amp panel allows 4,800. ⚠️ Notice that the cost is identical at 100, 125 and 150 amps — the fix is the same fix, a connection made ahead of the main breaker instead of into the busbar. The other route is a new panel, priced on our electrical panel upgrade cost calculator, which usually costs more and is worth doing anyway if the panel is old. Either way it is a question to settle before choosing a system size rather than after.
- The panels will outlast the roof underneath them
- An array lasts twenty-five years or more; an asphalt roof does not. If the roof has under a decade left, somebody is going to remove and reinstall the whole array to replace it — the roofing and electrical hours it took to put up, paid again. $3,372 on this system, so replacing the roof first is $13,945 against $17,317 for doing it later, using our own roof replacement cost calculator at the same wages. ⚠️ It is also why the roof type matters more than people expect: $23,830 on standing seam metal against $27,066 on tile. Metal is cheaper to mount on — the clamps grip the seam and nothing penetrates — and it outlasts the panels, which removes this problem entirely. Tile is the dearest because tiles are lifted, hooks flashed in, and some break on the way. And shade is the one thing that genuinely ruins a system: this array costs $31,469 with partial shade, so pricing a tree removal first is often the cheaper fix.
- A third of the price is not the installation, and the tax credit has changed
- $8,487 of this quote — 35% — is neither hardware nor the crew on your roof. It is advertising, purchased leads, the salesperson’s commission, design staff and overhead. It is put on its own line because this is where two quotes for the same array differ, far more than the panels do. Get three quotes for the same system size with the same equipment; the spread is mostly this. Microinverters against a string inverter is $24,369 against $23,049, which is small by comparison. ⚠️ On the federal credit: this page prices work and is not tax advice, and IRS, Residential Clean Energy Credit (retrieved 2026-08-24) says the residential clean energy credit covers property installed through December 31, 2025 and is not available for anything placed in service after that. Much of the industry is still advertising 30%. What the electricity is worth is set by your own tariff rather than by us — this array makes 10,948 kWh a year, worth about $1,983 at the 18.11¢ national average the EIA published for May 2026, year to date. Wages from BLS OEWS, May 2025, retrieved 2026-08-20, benefit-loaded from BLS ECEC. Storage is a separate decision, priced on our solar battery cost calculator.
- Material prices
- Modelled estimates, not sourced prices. No public, machine-readable source of US residential material prices exists, and we would rather say so than pretend otherwise. Each line carries its own uncertainty band. How we estimate them.
Contractor overhead and profit applied at 33–43% over direct cost. Data last reviewed 2026-08-24.
What this figure does not include
- Anything about your tax position
- ⚠️ This page prices work and is not tax advice. The federal residential clean energy credit is set out by the IRS, and its own page — read on 2026-08-24 — says the credit covers property installed through 31 December 2025 and is not available for anything placed in service after that. Much of the solar industry is still advertising 30% as though it were current. Check the IRS page and a tax professional for your own position; state and utility incentives are separate again and are not modelled here.
- What the electricity is worth to you
- Whether solar pays depends on what you would otherwise be charged and on what your utility pays for exports, and net metering terms have been getting worse across the country rather than better. This page prices the installation; it does not compute a payback, because the number that would decide it is set by a tariff we cannot read from a form.
- A roof that cannot take it
- The model assumes a structurally sound roof. An array adds load and, more to the point, needs solid rafters to fix to — an old or damaged roof deck is a repair before it is a solar job, and it is not modelled here.
- Replacing the roof underneath, later
- ⚠️ Panels outlast an asphalt roof. If the roof has under a decade left, somebody will remove and reinstall the array to replace it, and that is real money that appears on no solar quote. This page computes it separately so it can be seen before it is committed to, not after.
- Batteries
- Storage is a separate decision with separate economics, priced on our solar battery page. Solar without a battery does not keep the lights on in a power cut — the inverter shuts down so it cannot backfeed a line somebody is working on — and that surprises people.
- Tree removal and trimming
- Shade is the single biggest thing that ruins a solar system, and the fix is sometimes a tree. Our tree removal and tree trimming pages price that side of it.
- A service upgrade if the panel is full or too small
- Where the backfeed does not fit, this dataset prices the supply-side connection. Replacing the panel instead is the other route and it is priced on our electrical panel page — usually dearer, and worth doing anyway if the panel is old.
Questions people actually ask
How much is a solar system for a 2000 sq ft house?
That question has no answer, and it is worth explaining why rather than inventing one. ⚠️ Floor area does not size a solar system — consumption does. On this model a house using 6,000 kWh a year needs 5.3 kW and costs $14,881; one using 24,000 kWh needs 20.9 kW and costs $53,299. Both can be 2,000 square feet. The difference is gas heating against a heat pump, and whether there is an electric car on the driveway. The number this calculator wants is on your electricity bill: kilowatt-hours for the year. Anybody quoting you from floor area is guessing, and so would we be.
What is the 20 rule for solar panels?
The rule people usually mean is the 120% rule, and it is worth knowing because it decides thousands of dollars. Your electrical panel has a limit on how much current can be pushed into it by the solar while the main breaker feeds it from the other end: the two together cannot exceed 120% of what the busbar is rated for. ⚠️ On a 200 amp panel that leaves about 40 amps of backfeed — around 9,600 watts of inverter — so a 10 kilowatt system already does not fit. On a 100 amp panel it is 4,800 watts. When it does not fit there are two ways out: connect ahead of the main breaker, which this model prices, or replace the panel, priced on our electrical panel page. No other solar calculator asks what size your panel is.
Is the 30% solar tax credit going away in 2026?
It already has, and we are not saying that from memory. The IRS page for the Residential Clean Energy Credit, read on 2026-08-24 and linked below, says the credit covers property installed through December 31, 2025 and is not available for anything placed in service after that date. ⚠️ Much of the solar industry is still advertising 30% as though it were current, which is exactly the kind of thing this site exists not to do. Two caveats we will not go past: this page prices work and is not tax advice, and state and utility incentives are entirely separate, vary enormously and are not modelled here. Check the IRS page and a tax professional for your own position before letting any incentive change a decision.
How much do solar panels cost for a 2000 square foot house in Canada?
We do not price Canada and will not guess at it. Everything on this site is built on United States federal wage data for 530 US metropolitan areas, and the things that most decide a solar price north of the border are different: different electricity tariffs, different provincial incentives, different interconnection rules and a different labour market. ⚠️ What does carry across is the method rather than the numbers. Size the system from your annual kilowatt-hours and not from your floor area; find out what your electrical panel can accept before choosing a system size; and check how many years the roof has left, because the panels will outlast it. Those three questions are worth asking anywhere, and they are the ones this calculator is built around.
Taken from Google’s “people also ask” results for this search on 2026-08-24, not invented.
Other cost calculators
The first of these are the jobs closest to this one — the ones that turn up in the same quote, or instead of it.
- Solar battery cost
Prices storage in usable kilowatt-hours, works out how many hours it really lasts, and puts it against a standby generator from our own model.
- Electrical panel upgrade cost
Splits a service upgrade into the panel on the wall, which is the cheap part, and the service entrance, which is most of the money.
- Concrete slab cost
Shows what a slab is actually made of: on a typical pour the concrete itself is under a third of the bill, and the rest is base, forms, steel and the hours to finish it.
- The full solar panel installation cost dataset
Every unit price, every quantity rule and the reasoning behind each estimate, as a plain table.
- How we calculate
The formula, the sources, and an honest account of which parts of the model are weak.