Home & Life · Free tool

Solar Panel Payback Calculator

Solar ROI and payback period including 30% federal tax credit, state rebates, and 25-year savings.

Updated April 2026

Current monthly electric bill ($)System size (kW)Cost per watt installed ($)Federal tax credit (%)State/utility rebate ($)Electricity price ($/kWh)Price inflation (%/yr)Years of analysis

Gross install cost

$18,000

Net cost after incentives

$12,600

Payback period

9 yrs

25-year total savings

$45,939

Estimated annual production: 8,400 kWh. Net savings after payback through year 25: $33,339.

Uses the 1,400 kWh/kW/yr US average—actual production varies with latitude, shading, and roof orientation.

Found this useful?Email

What it does

Solar panels: when do they pay back, what do they save over 25 years? Includes tax credit, rebates, electricity inflation.

Runs entirely in your browser — no upload, no account, no watermark. For more tools in this category see the full tools index.

Embed this tool on your siteShow snippet

Paste this snippet into any page. Loads on-demand (lazy), no tracking scripts, and sized to most dashboards. Replace the height to fit your layout.

<iframe src="https://freetoolarena.com/embed/solar-panel-payback-calculator" width="100%" height="720" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" title="Solar Panel Payback Calculator" style="border:1px solid #e2e8f0;border-radius:12px;max-width:720px;"></iframe>

Embed docs →

How to use it

Enter system size + cost.
Set rebate + electricity rate.
Read years to payback.