Solar guides for US homeowners
Plain-English guides to the numbers behind home solar: how payback is calculated, how much panels degrade and when a battery pays off.
- How solar payback is calculatedThe payback formula step by step: system size, yearly output, the value of each kWh, rising prices and panel wear, with a worked example and the inputs that move the answer most.
- Solar panel degradation explainedWhy solar panels make a little less power each year, what the research says about typical rates, how to read a performance warranty and how much wear changes payback.
- Do home solar batteries pay off?When a battery adds real savings to a solar system and when it only adds cost, how to work out the most a battery is worth to you, and what the numbers leave out.
Ready to run your own numbers? Open the solar payback calculator.