Cost of Solar Power
Depending on the location and design of your system, the typical home installation ranges from 3 to 7 kilowatts and costs between $18,000 to $40,000 to purchase.
Equipment Costs ~ 45%
- Solar panels: About a third of the cost of a residential photovoltaic system comes from the cost of solar panels, which can cost around $4,500-$12,000.
- Power inverter: The inverter, which converts DC to AC so you can connect to the grid, will cost $1,000-$3,000.
- Mounting hardware: Depending on your home, you may need standoffs, rails, clips, etc., which cost around $800-$2,000.
- Wiring: Wires and wiring boxes, disconnects, conduit, and other electrical components can total to around $1,000-$2,000.
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Installation and Permitting Costs ~ 25%
- System Installation: Even before your system is up and running, you’ll need to pay for the cost of installation, which ranges from $2,000-$4,000.
- Permits & Fees: Local permitting and inspection fees can add over $2,500 to your solar costs. With other solar permitting fees, costs can total to around $3,000-$6,000.
Sales, Marketing, and Operational Costs ~ 30%
- Monitoring: Monitoring equipment and/or services can cost up to a couple thousand dollars
- Maintenance/Repairs: These costs will vary, depending on the situation, and include the cost of replacing the power inverter. Inverters typically need to be replaced one or two times during the life of your system.
- Additional operational and overhead costs can total around $4,000-$9,000 per installation.
Incentives can help lower the cost of solar power systems. As a homeowner, you’re eligible to receive 30% off the total cost of your photovoltaic system from the federal government in the form of a Federal Solar Tax Credit. If you purchase a home solar system, you may end up having to wait as long as 16 months to receive the benefit of the tax credit.
Solar PPA / Lease
Simple Solar Solutions - Less Money
Sunrun invented a new approach to home solar - solar power as a service. We are like a solar power utility company on your roof. We buy your solar system and take care of it for the next 20 years. We cover all the cost of panels, inverter, hardware, permitting, installation, monitoring, and repairs – you only pay for the electricity you produce.
Sunrun is also an expert at locating and monetizing government incentives. Sunrun handles all the paperwork and passes the savings on to you immediately in the lower upfront cost and long-term savings. Sunrun takes the guesswork out of the cost of solar power.
Over 20,000 homeowners have switched to solar with Sunrun.
How much will you save?
"I could have purchased the panels outright, but it would have cost me $25,000-$35,000. I went with Sunrun where it didn’t cost me anything upfront and it’s going to save me some money on my electric bill."
Resources
- Open PV Project - a collaborative project between the U.S. government, solar industry, and public that keeps track of the real-time status of U.S. solar PV market. This includes the average cost per watt of a solar photovoltaic install in the U.S., but not post-installation maintenance and insurance costs.
- DSIRE - The Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency has comprehensive information on local and federal incentives for solar power.