Solar payback calculator
Estimate when net installation costs might be recovered through electricity savings and export credits. Use your installer quote and utility tariff; these defaults are examples.
Use currency units per kWh: 20 cents = 0.20. Currency selection does not convert prices. Enter only incentives you have verified you qualify for.
Estimated simple payback
17.6 years
Net upfront cost: $18,000
First-year savings after maintenance: $1,025
Why self-use and exports have different values
Electricity used at home can avoid a purchase at the retail rate. Exported electricity earns the credit your tariff allows, which may be much lower. An annual generation figure alone is not enough to determine bill savings. The self-use percentage here is a share of solar generation, not a share of household consumption.
Formula and example
Annual gross benefit = generation × (self-use fraction × retail rate + export fraction × export rate). Subtract annual maintenance to get net savings. With 9,000 kWh, 50% self-use, a 0.20 retail rate, a 0.05 export rate, and 100 maintenance, first-year net savings are 1,025. An 18,000 net cost takes about 17.6 years at unchanged rates.
How the break-even estimate works
The tool accumulates net savings for up to 50 years and interpolates within the year when those savings reach the upfront cost. The optional rate change applies equally to retail and export prices; maintenance stays constant. A 50-year calculation window is not a prediction of equipment life.
What is excluded?
Financing, discounting, panel degradation, inverter replacement, roof work, tax timing, battery losses, changes in consumption, and tariff caps are excluded. Generation and self-use stay constant. Fixed utility charges usually remain. Simple payback does not establish whether solar beats another use of your money.
Compare a cautious case
Lower the annual output or self-use share and set electricity price growth to zero. Ask the installer how output and self-use were estimated. Use a separate battery-inclusive quote if considering storage, with its costs and losses reflected in your assumptions.
Read the solar quote and payback guide or estimate appliance electricity costs.
Reference: Department of Energy homeowner guide to solar, including utility compensation and local arrangements.