SOLAR PRICING GUIDE
Solar pricing
The 2026 US cost per watt for a home system, how it falls from a 4 kW roof to a 10 kW one, the state range, what a loan or a battery adds, where the installer's profit sits in the price — and a free calculator that turns them into a price you can put on your website.
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The short answer
A home solar system costs about $3.03 a watt installed in the US in 2026, from $2.61 a watt in Florida to $3.53 in the District of Columbia (SolarReviews, October 2026).
Size moves the rate: $3.64 a watt for a 4 kW system ($14,560), $3.07 at 7 kW ($21,490) and $2.86 at 10 kW ($28,600), because design, permits and the truck roll cost the same on every roof (SolarReviews). Financed with a solar loan the price per watt is closer to $3.62, and a battery adds upwards of $15,000.
Where the dollars go, per watt: panels $0.36, inverter $0.33, racking $0.26, electrical $0.29, installation labor $0.17, permitting $0.09, customer acquisition $0.45, other soft costs $0.59 — and the installer's profit $0.48, about 16% (SolarReviews). The national lab's Q1 2025 benchmark is $2.95 a watt as a modeled market price and $2.78 as the minimum sustainable price; with a battery, $4.59 and $4.33 (DOE / NREL, in 2024 dollars).
Price per watt from your own cost stack — hardware, labor, permits, the cost of winning the customer — and put the per-watt range and a typical system price on your website. In the US, the homeowner's federal solar credit (Section 25D) ended for expenditures after 31 December 2025, so price the system to stand on its own and never advertise a credit; check the current federal and state incentives before you print one.
FREE PRICE CALCULATOR
What should I charge for this system?
Enter the system size in watts, pick the size band and how the customer pays, and tick a battery if the design has one. The range uses the published 2026 US figures in the table below.
Suggested price
$18,790–$25,415
home solar system, installed (cash price), 7,200 watts
A starting range from published US figures — not a bid for a particular roof. The size and payment multipliers are our arithmetic from SolarReviews' per-watt figures; the per-watt range is its state table. The after-credit prices some publishers still print are left out: in the US, the homeowner credit ended for expenditures after 2025 — check the current federal and state rules before any incentive goes on a proposal.
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Put your solar installation prices where customers look
Add your town, and Zarla builds your solar installation website from this one line. Then tell the editor “add a pricing section” with your prices, and change them any time.
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RATES · OCTOBER 2026
Solar prices (2026)
Per watt, the trade's unit. SolarReviews' by-size table for context: 4 kW $14,560 ($3.64/W), 5 kW $16,800, 6 kW $19,140, 7 kW $21,490, 8 kW $23,840, 9 kW $26,280, 10 kW $28,600 ($2.86/W). The national lab's Q1 2025 modeled market price is $2.95 a watt, $4.59 with storage (DOE / NREL).
| The job | Typical US price · source |
|---|---|
| Home solar system, installed (cash price) | $2.61–$3.53 per watt · about $18,790–$25,415 for 7,200 watts · SolarReviews |
Rates read off each publisher's page in October 2026. The calculator above uses exactly these numbers. Full source list below.
ADD-ONS AND ADJUSTMENTS
What size, financing and a battery do to the price
Smaller roofs and loans raise the per-watt price; a battery is its own line.
| What | Typical US price · source |
|---|---|
| System size: small, about 4 kw | $3.64 per watt at 4 kW against the $3.03 national average · SolarReviews figures |
| System size: large, about 10 kw | $2.86 per watt at 10 kW against the $3.03 national average · SolarReviews figures |
| Payment: solar loan, dealer fee built in | $3.62 per watt financed against the $3.03 cash average · SolarReviews figures |
| Battery storage | +$15,000+ · SolarReviews |
Where a row shows a sum (a rate × a quantity, or a percentage worked out from published dollar ranges), the arithmetic is ours and the inputs are the publisher's.
THE PRICING FORMULA
How to price a solar installation
Six steps from the roof to the per-watt number on your proposal and your website.
Start from the market per watt
$3.03 a watt nationally, $2.61–$3.53 by state (SolarReviews, October 2026). Your state's figure is the customer's yardstick.
Stack your costs per watt
SolarReviews' breakdown: panels $0.36, inverter $0.33, racking $0.26, electrical $0.29, labor $0.17, permitting $0.09, customer acquisition $0.45, other soft costs $0.59. Replace each with your own number.
Add the margin
Profit is $0.48 a watt — 16% — in SolarReviews' breakdown; the national lab's minimum sustainable price of $2.78 against a $2.95 market price is the floor a healthy installer needs (DOE / NREL, Q1 2025).
Scale with the system
Fixed costs don't shrink with the roof: $3.64 a watt at 4 kW, $3.07 at 7 kW, $2.86 at 10 kW (SolarReviews). Quote small systems higher per watt, or they lose money.
Price the loan honestly
A dealer fee of about 20% of principal pushes a financed system to about $3.62 a watt from $3.03 (SolarReviews). Show the cash price and the financed price side by side.
Keep the battery and the incentives separate
A battery adds upwards of $15,000 (SolarReviews); the national lab prices PV plus storage at $4.59 a watt against $2.95 without (Q1 2025). In the US, the homeowner credit ended for expenditures after 2025 — check the current federal and state rules before any incentive goes on a proposal.
The formula, worked through
Say a 7.2 kW system on a plain roof in an average-cost state, paid in cash.
7,200 watts at $2.61–$3.53 a watt (SolarReviews' state range) is about $18,800–$25,400; at the $3.03 national average, $21,800. On SolarReviews' breakdown that price carries about $0.48 a watt of profit — $3,450 on this roof — after $0.45 a watt, $3,240, spent winning the customer.
Financed, the same system is about $3.62 a watt, $26,000. So “home solar from about $2.60 a watt, typical systems $19,000–$25,000” is a fair line for your website — your state's figure sets the end of the range. The arithmetic is ours; the rates are the publishers'.
What to charge in your state
SolarReviews' state averages run from $2.61 a watt in Florida, $2.63 in Arkansas and $2.64 in Oklahoma to $3.42 in Alabama, $3.44 in Michigan, $3.52 in Alaska and $3.53 in the District of Columbia; California is $3.33, Texas $2.85, New York $3.33 (October 2026).
Across all prices, the Bureau of Economic Analysis puts California at 110.7 against a US average of 100 and Arkansas at 86.9 (2024 regional price parities, released February 2026) — labor and permitting follow it; panels and inverters cost the same everywhere.
State and utility incentives differ and change often. In the US, say what applies in your state on the proposal, dated, and never on a price list — the federal homeowner credit is gone for 2026 systems, and a stale incentive line is the fastest way to lose a sale at signing.
Put your prices on your website
A price list — even “from” prices — answers a customer's first question before they pick up the phone, and it's the line an AI assistant can quote when someone asks what a home solar system costs near them.
If you build your site with Zarla, tell the editor “add a pricing section: home solar from $2.60 a watt installed, typical systems $19,000–$25,000, batteries from $15,000” and your prices go on the site, in a section you can edit any time. Want to see a finished site first? Browse solar installation website templates or see how Zarla builds solar installation websites.
Still setting up? Write your solar installation business plan, browse solar installation business name ideas, and when the prices are set, read how to get your business on Google. Raising prices you set a year ago? The price increase letter tells customers a month ahead.
Starting the company? How to start a solar company covers the licenses, the equipment and what each sale costs to win.
Solar pricing: common questions
The US average is $3.03 a watt installed, from $2.61 in Florida to $3.53 in the District of Columbia (SolarReviews, October 2026). The calculator above uses SolarReviews' state range, with size and loan multipliers from its own figures.
Design, permits, inspection and the truck roll cost the same on every roof. SolarReviews prices a 4 kW system at $3.64 a watt and a 10 kW at $2.86 — a 27% gap for the same panels (October 2026). Quote small systems higher per watt or they lose money.
About $0.48 a watt — 16% of the price — in SolarReviews' 2026 breakdown, after $0.45 a watt of customer acquisition and $0.59 of other soft costs. The national lab's minimum sustainable price is $2.78 a watt against a $2.95 modeled market price (DOE / NREL, Q1 2025).
About $0.59 a watt: $3.62 financed against $3.03 cash (SolarReviews, October 2026), from a dealer fee of roughly 20% of principal. Show the cash and financed prices side by side on every proposal.
Batteries add upwards of $15,000 to a system (SolarReviews, October 2026). The national lab benchmarks PV plus storage at $4.59 a watt against $2.95 for PV alone (DOE / NREL, Q1 2025). Price it as its own line, with its own warranty.
In the US, the homeowner's federal solar credit (Section 25D) ended for expenditures after 31 December 2025, under Public Law 119-21. Don't print it. State and utility incentives still exist in some places and change often — name the one that applies in your state on a dated proposal, never on a price list, and check the current rules with your accountant before you do.
SolarReviews' lowest state averages are Florida $2.61, Arkansas $2.63 and Oklahoma $2.64 a watt (October 2026). Below the national lab's $2.78 minimum sustainable price, an installer is usually buying the job.
Yes — a per-watt range and a typical system price. Homeowners compare per-watt figures across installers before they ask for a proposal, and a company that prints its range looks like the one with nothing to hide. On a Zarla site, tell the editor “add a pricing section” with your range, and change it when panel prices do.
Where these numbers come from
Every range on this page is read off a published source, dated below. They're US figures for residential work — typical, not a rule; your costs and your market come first.
- SolarReviews — Solar Panel Costs in 2026 — dated October 2026, read October 2026
- U.S. Department of Energy / NREL — Solar Photovoltaic System Cost Benchmarks (Q1 2025) — no date on the page, read October 2026
- U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — regional price parities by state, 2024 — dated February 2026, read September 2026
Put your solar prices on your website
Add your town and your business name, and Zarla builds the site from that one line. Your per-watt range goes in a pricing section you edit by chat.
Already have a website? Bring it across →Zarla keeps your old page addresses where it can and redirects the ones that change, helping you keep the Google standing you've built.