Home solar cost and contracts

What Does Home Solar Cost in 2026?

Published September 23, 2026 · By the SolarPanelX editors · Prices and specs as of that date, from the pages under Sources

Summary

About $2.60 per watt on average, according to EnergySage's 2026 marketplace data, or $31,135 for the 12 kW system a typical home needs. Both figures are before incentives. State averages run from $2.12 per watt in Florida to $3.84 in Alabama, and the 30% federal residential credit no longer applies to systems installed in 2026.

The spread around $31,135

EnergySage's 12 kW figures run from $27,526 on the low end to $33,869 on the high end. The company attributes most of the difference to system size, roof and home characteristics, and location, along with the equipment and installer you pick. Shading, roof complexity, and local incentive programs also move the final number.

Cheapest and priciest states

In EnergySage's state table, last updated September 11, 2026, Florida ($2.12 per watt), Texas ($2.25), and Arizona ($2.28) have the lowest averages. Alabama ($3.84), Tennessee ($3.52), and Hawaii ($3.43) have the highest.

The federal credit ended with 2025

The IRS says the Residential Clean Energy Credit under Section 25D is not allowed for expenditures made after December 31, 2025. An expenditure counts as made when the original installation is completed, so paying in 2025 doesn't help if the installation finished in 2026. For property placed in service from 2022 through 2025, the credit rate was 30%.

Sources

We have not tested these products. Specs, prices, stock and terms are as published on these pages on the date above and can change; check the manufacturer or retailer before you buy.

More home solar cost and contracts guides

Home solar cost and contractsWhat Else Does a House Need Besides the Solar Panels?Quite a bit. Panels produce direct current, so a home system needs an inverter to turn it into the alternating current your wiring uses, plus a…Read the guide →Home solar cost and contractsHow Many Kilowatts of Solar Does a House Need?Start from your electricity use, not your roof. Add up a full year of kilowatt-hours from your bills, then model how much a kilowatt of panels…Read the guide →Home solar cost and contractsDoes the Price of One Solar Panel Tell You What a Home System Costs?Not really. EnergySage estimates that panels make up only 12% of the total cost of a residential installation. For comparing quotes, the more useful…Read the guide →Home solar cost and contractsWhat Happens Between Choosing a Solar Installer and Turning the System On?DOE's consumer guide lists six steps: choose an installer, make sure the roof can support panels, assess your home's solar potential, calculate your…Read the guide →Home solar cost and contractsWhat Should You Compare in Solar Quotes Besides the Total Price?Line up what each quote actually buys: DC system size, estimated annual production, exact module and inverter models, and what work is included…Read the guide →Home solar cost and contractsHow Much Does a Kilowatt of Solar Produce in a Year, and How Many Panels Does That Add Up To?It depends heavily on where you live. Running NLR's PVWatts for a south-facing, 20-degree roof with 14% losses, one kilowatt produces about 1,755 kWh…Read the guide →Home solar cost and contractsWhat Does a Grid-Tied Solar System Do With Extra Power, and Why Does It Shut Off in a Blackout?Extra power flows out to the grid, and where net metering applies, the customer is credited for what the system sends. Solar used inside the home…Read the guide →Home solar cost and contractsWhat Else Does a Grid-Tie Solar Kit Need Before It Can Connect to the Grid?Panels only generate the power. To make it usable at home, the system needs mounting and an inverter, and a grid connection adds equipment that DOE…Read the guide →Home solar cost and contractsDoes Paying Someone to Clean Home Solar Panels Pay Off?On a typical house, the electricity lost to dirt adds up to tens of dollars a year. PVWatts assumes a 2% soiling loss by default. On a 7.7 kW system…Read the guide →Home solar cost and contractsHow Much Roof Does a 10kW Solar System Cover, and How Much Will It Produce?With 400 W panels it takes 25 of them, about 49 m² (528 sq ft) of panel and about 550 kg (1,213 lb). Using 440 W panels gets to 10.12 kW with 23…Read the guide →Home solar cost and contractsIs a 20kW Solar System Too Big for a Home, and Small for a Business?For a U.S. home it is large, and for a business it is on the small side. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory counts a median residential system of…Read the guide →Home solar cost and contractsIf You Paid in December 2025 but the Solar Install Finished in January 2026, Do You Get the 30% Credit?No. In its FAQ fact sheet FS-2025-05 (August 21, 2025), the IRS says a Section 25D Residential Clean Energy Credit expenditure is treated as made when…Read the guide →Home solar cost and contractsIs "Free Solar" Ever Actually Free?No. The FTC says a door-to-door promise of free rooftop panels paid for by government programs is likely a scam, and that while some government-funded…Read the guide →Home solar cost and contractsWhat Does Looking After Home Solar Panels Involve, and What Does It Cost Each Year?Very little day-to-day work; most of it is reading the production record. DOE's Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP), writing for federal sites…Read the guide →Home solar cost and contractsDoes Your Homeowners Policy Cover Solar Panels Once They Are on the Roof?Not automatically. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) tells homeowners to check with their insurer before installing panels…Read the guide →Home solar cost and contractsHow Far Apart Are Solar Prices in California, Texas, Florida, and Ohio?EnergySage's September 2026 state data puts price per watt between $2.12 in Florida and $2.61 in Ohio, and the average system total between $21,093 in…Read the guide →Home solar cost and contractsHow Many Solar Panels Would a 2,000-Square-Foot Home Need?In EIA's 2020 Residential Energy Consumption Survey, homes of 2,000 to 2,499 square feet used an average of 12,173 kWh of electricity a year. Covering…Read the guide →Home solar cost and contractsIf You Install Solar Yourself, What Still Has to Go Through Permits and the Utility?Doing the work yourself does not skip permitting or inspection. DOE says rooftop panels generally need a local permit before installation, an…Read the guide →Home solar cost and contractsWhich Parts of a Business Electric Bill Does Rooftop Solar Actually Lower?Solar mainly cuts energy charges, the part billed per kWh. Demand charges, set by the month's highest kW, barely move if that peak happens after…Read the guide →Home solar cost and contractsWhat Share of a Home's Electricity Does a 5 kW Solar System Cover?For an average U.S. home using 10,566 kWh a year, about 83% in Phoenix, 61% in New York, and 51% in Seattle. Multiplying NLR PVWatts per-kilowatt…Read the guide →Home solar cost and contractsHow Much Electricity Would a Home Use to Match a 15 kW Solar System?More than the average home in the highest-use groups of the federal housing survey. By NLR PVWatts estimates, 15 kW makes about 16,320 kWh a year even…Read the guide →Home solar cost and contractsHow Many Years Does a Rooftop Solar System Installed in 2026 Take to Pay Back?For a 7.7 kW system bought at the national average of $2.60 per watt ($20,020), with every kilowatt-hour valued at the national average residential…Read the guide →Home solar cost and contractsHow Much More Did Homes With Rooftop Solar Sell For?In a Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory study of 22,822 home sales across eight states from 2002 to 2013, 3,951 of them with PV, the premium…Read the guide →Home solar cost and contractsWhy Do Some Solar Loan Payments Jump in the 19th Month?Because the loan was built around a large partial prepayment. The CFPB's August 2024 report on solar financing says many solar-specific loans raise…Read the guide →Home solar cost and contractsWho Do You Call When a SunPower System Installed Before September 30, 2024 Breaks Down?Not today's SunPower. SunPower Inc., formerly Complete Solaria, says its purchase of assets, which closed on September 30, 2024, did not include any…Read the guide →Home solar cost and contractsWhat Happens to a Sunrun Subscription When You Sell the House?Sunrun's subscription plan, its monthly solar lease, is set up to pass to the buyer. The seller sends Sunrun contact details for the buyer and the…Read the guide →

All home solar cost and contracts guides · All guides and search