Solar Payback Period Calculator

Calculate how many years it takes to recoup your solar investment.

System Cost

Federal Tax Credit

State/Local Incentives

Annual Production

kWh

Electricity Rate

$/kWh

Annual Rate Increase

Panel Degradation

%/yr

Tab to move between fields

Payback Period

11 years

Net System Cost

$17,500.00

≈ 9 gaming PCs

First Year Savings$1,500.00

25-Year Savings$51,137.00

25-Year ROI192%

How to Use This Calculator

Enter the total installed solar system cost before incentives.
Input available rebates, tax credits, and utility incentives.
Set your annual electricity bill savings from solar generation.
Enter the expected annual solar degradation rate.
Review the simple payback period in years and the 25-year NPV of the investment.

How the result changes with System Cost

System Cost: Total installed cost before incentives.
Federal Tax Credit: Federal Investment Tax Credit percentage (ITC).
State/Local Incentives: Additional state or local incentive as a percentage of cost.
Annual Production: Expected annual solar energy production.
Electricity Rate: Current electricity rate from your utility.
Annual Rate Increase: Expected annual electricity rate increase.
Panel Degradation: Annual panel output degradation rate.

Identify Input Parameters
4 parameters
System Cost = 25000, Federal Tax Credit = 30, State/Local Incentives = 0, Annual Production = 10000 = 7 input(s) provided
Calculate Payback Period
Payback Period
11 = 11
Calculate Net System Cost
Net System Cost
17500 = $17,500
Calculate First Year Savings
First Year Savings
1500 = $1,500
Calculate 25-Year Savings
25-Year Savings
51137 = $51,137