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US installed cost $3.75 per wattPower 17.45¢/kWh · July 2026
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15 kW system

What a 15 kW solar system costs

About 38 panels, roughly 836 square feet of roof, and $56,250 at the national median of $3.75 a watt. There is no federal credit to subtract from that any more.

Nationally

The numbers

Price
$56,250
at $3.75/W
Makes each year
19,980kWh
Saves, year one
$3,487
$291 a month
Pays back in
14.1 years
over 25 years

The same system bought before 31 December 2025 would have cost $39,375 after the 30% federal credit. That credit no longer exists, so this system is $16,875 more expensive than an identical one installed a year earlier. What changed.

Where it pays fastest

A 15 kW system in the states we have local prices for

StatePer wattPriceMakesSaves, year onePayback
Massachusetts$3.74$56,10018,945 kWh$5,7769.0 years
New York$3.98$59,70018,825 kWh$5,6299.7 years
Rhode Island$3.75$56,25018,870 kWh$5,3389.7 years
California$4.36$65,40024,030 kWh$5,65410.5 years
Connecticut$3.75$56,25019,170 kWh$4,63111.0 years
Delaware$3.18$47,70019,125 kWh$3,53412.1 years
Arizona$3.62$54,30025,320 kWh$3,89412.4 years
Wisconsin$3.73$55,95018,840 kWh$3,59113.7 years
Texas$3.46$51,90020,835 kWh$3,30913.8 years
Florida$4.08$61,20021,390 kWh$3,21516.3 years
Oregon$3.90$58,50016,170 kWh$2,58218.9 years
The one lever that actually moves the price

Three competing quotes beat any amount of comparing panel brands

Sales cost and margin are over a third of an installed price, and they are the part that competition removes. A single quote from whoever reached you first is how people end up in the top quarter of what their neighbours paid.

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When the numbers move

Prices and rules change. We will tell you when they do

Berkeley Lab publishes installed prices once a year, the EIA updates electricity rates every month, and Congress changed the tax treatment of all of this in 2025. One email when something on this site actually changes, and nothing else.

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