How Much Do Solar Panels Cost? (2025)

Where you live greatly affects solar prices, but I can give you a general idea of the costs. Most homeowners today pay between $2.60 and $3.10 per watt of solar capacity.

If your house uses about 886 kilowatt-hours of electricity per month (which is average), you’ll likely need a 6kW system. At roughly $2.95 per watt, that’s about $29,000 total. The good news? The federal tax credit knocks 30% off, bringing the cost of solar panels for your home down to around $20,300.

Remember that many things can push this number up or down – your roof type, local sunshine levels, electricity usage, and even the company you choose. Let’s break down these factors so you can get a better estimate for your home.

Several key factors determine what you’ll pay for solar:

• Home Size and Energy Usage
• Solar Panel Type and Quality
• Financing Option
• Location and Available Incentives
• Installation Company

Panel quality affects both the price tag and how much electricity you’ll generate. More expensive panels usually produce more power from the same amount of sunlight.

The sleek black panels you often see are monocrystalline, which cost about $1.25 per watt. They’re made from single silicon crystals and convert 17–22% of sunlight into electricity. They work better in shade and hot weather than cheaper options, which is why many installers recommend them.

Blue-tinted polycrystalline panels cost less – around $0.95 per watt. They’re made from silicon fragments and reach about 16% efficiency. They don’t handle heat or shade as well, but for a 6kW system, picking poly over mono could save you about $2,000.

Thin-film panels are the budget option at roughly $0.75 per watt. They’re less efficient (about 12%) and don’t last as long (10–20 years instead of 25–30). Few homeowners choose them for rooftops, but they work well for RVs and portable setups.

We don’t recommend these panels for a residential setting, but they do come with a few benefits worth mentioning. Thin-film panels are much more lightweight and flexible than their crystalline counterparts, so they are worth considering if you want solar energy for your van, RV, or sailboat.

Remember, our prices are just averages and will still differ depending on your state and solar panel installation company. Use the chart below to get a sense of how the type of solar panel affects the total system cost:

You’ll see four major financing options when dealing with a solar installer: cash purchases, solar loans, solar leases, and Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs).

Cash Purchase

With a cash purchase, you’ll pay for everything right off the bat. While this comes with the highest up-front costs by far, you can usually get a sizable discount for paying all at once, and the long-term savings are the strongest, which is one of the biggest differences between buying and leasing solar panels. Without monthly payments to a solar company, you’ll immediately feel the savings on your energy bill. Your buyback period is also shorter: 20 years down the line, you’ll have saved big by avoiding the interest rates hidden in loans.

Solar Loan

If you’d rather pay over time, the next best option is a solar loan. Both loans and cash purchases qualify you for solar incentives like sales and property tax exemptions, so we always recommend homeowners invest through one of these paths. This financing plan will still transfer your system ownership, but you’ll repay the loan over five to 10 years. If you have good enough credit, plenty of solar providers will offer you a deal for $0 down, making the up-front cost nonexistent.

Solar Lease

You’ll never get ownership of your solar system through a solar lease, but your energy bills will be much lower. Instead of owning your panels, they’ll belong to a third party, and you’ll pay to use their energy. You pay a fixed monthly fee to the solar provider, which is often lower than a loan and less than regular utility costs.

PPAs

A Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) is almost the same as a lease. Instead of paying a fixed monthly rate, your payments will depend on how much energy you consume from the panels. With these last two options, you’ll spend less on electricity, but you won’t qualify for any rebates, and you won’t be investing in your property. You’ll unlikely benefit from a higher property value, as these systems are much more difficult to transfer.

However, both a PPA and a solar lease come with some perks. Because the solar installation company is still the technical owner of your panels, it’ll remain responsible for keeping them maintained. You’ll save big on the costs of repairs and cleaning. Plus, they’re much more accessible than a solar loan or cash purchase, which demand good credit or substantial capital.

If you have the money saved, there’s no better way to buy a solar plan than through a cash purchase. Compare the up-front fees, monthly costs, and long-term savings of each of the major financing plans:

The cost of solar is heavily dependent on which state you live in. Some states have invested in the infrastructure to make clean energy cheap, while others have provided solar subsidies and financial incentives. Electricity is cheap and plentiful in some areas while expensive and scarce in others. Finally, residents of sunny states like California (explore recommended solar companies for California residents) are solar-viable for hundreds of days a year and won’t need as many panels to power a home.

Every solar installation company offers different types of solar panels, warranty packages, and financing options. You can spend less or try to go the DIY solar panel installation route, but you might end up with less efficient solar panels or worse damage protection.

If you want to cut costs, cheaper brands like Sunrun are primarily geared toward customers working within a tight budget. It specializes in solar leases with no down payment and still offers a suite of highly efficient solar panels in the 18–21% range.

We recommend contacting a sales agent at the companies that catch your eye to get a more precise idea of how solar costs differ by provider.

Don’t forget these extra expenses when budgeting for solar:

System Maintenance and Repairs

Solar panels don’t need much maintenance, but you should plan for:

• Annual cleaning and inspection: $300–$700
• Inverter replacement: $1,000–$2,500 every 10–15 years
• Panel replacement (if damaged): $200–$400 per panel
• Wiring repairs: $100–$300 per incident

Companies like SunPower and Momentum Solar offer 25-year warranties covering parts, performance, and labor. These warranties can save you thousands over time, even if their systems cost more upfront.

Roof Considerations

If your roof is over 15 years old, consider replacing it before adding solar panels. Taking down and reinstalling panels later costs $2,000–$3,000.

A roof inspection runs $150–$400 but can prevent headaches later. Most solar companies will check your roof’s condition as part of their initial visit.

Solar Battery Storage

Want to store extra energy for nighttime use or power outages? Add these costs:

• Basic battery: $8,000–$12,000
• Premium system (like Tesla Powerwall): $10,000–$15,000 per unit
• Installation: $1,000–$3,000

Batteries aren’t cheap, but they’re worth considering if you live somewhere with frequent outages, high evening electricity rates, or limited net metering options.

Read also: Who is Eligible for Solar Tax Exemption

To score a big discount on your solar purchase, you should first research the solar incentives specific to your state or city. Then, look into the financing options that offer the best deal on the type of system you need.

We’ll go over each in detail, but these are the top five ways you can save money on your solar system:

• Take Advantage of Solar Incentives and Subsidies
• Opt for Higher Efficiency Panels
• Install a Solar Battery
• Buy a Monitoring Display
• Optimize Your Panel’s Positioning

You can cut costs in the short run by buying low-efficiency polycrystalline panels. However, your projected 25-year savings with Tier-1 solar panels are much higher. You should be able to avoid expensive repair costs with higher-quality panels as well.

Some of the top solar batteries, like Tesla’s Powerwall+, can cost you an additional $10,000, so seeing them in a section on savings may seem strange. However, solar batteries are a great financial decision in some cases. 

If the net metering benefits are high where you live, you want as much excess energy as possible. An energy storage system you can rely on at night means you’ll rarely take anything out of the power grid.

Batteries are an especially good idea if your state has low sunlight exposure or frequent power outages.

Buying a system with a monitoring display is a great way to avoid unnecessary repair and maintenance costs. You’ll get up-to-date statistics on how much sun and shade each panel gets and parts that aren’t functioning.

To build upon this ability, prioritize companies with strong customer reviews and manufacturer warranties in your search. Some installation companies come with production guarantees. If your energy levels slip, they’ll be financially responsible.

Discuss optimizing your solar system’s design with your provider to get the most sunlight. If placing your panels on a flat surface, adjust the tilt angle to 28°, and always try to aim your solar panels toward the south.

Solar prices have declined immensely over the past few decades, and there is lots of good news for supporters of sustainable energy. The manufacturing process for photovoltaic (PV) cells has been optimized so much in the past 10 years that prices have dropped almost 70%. High-efficiency panels for homeowners cost $7.53/W in 2010 and now hover around an average of $2.65/W.