Solar panels in California: cost, payback, and whether they are worth it

How much do solar panels cost in California?

Solar is priced per watt of panel capacity. In the CPUC's interconnection data, customer-owned home systems without a battery, 1 to 25 kW, approved at PG&E, SCE and SDG&E from January 2025 through May 2026 reported a median price of $4.14 per watt, with the middle half between $2.90 and $5.53 (58,628 systems; California DG Stats, data through May 31, 2026, downloaded September 24, 2026). These are prices owners reported, before incentives, not quotes. The solar cost pages for each city give the local figure where there is one.

The most recent dollar range Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory states in its text comes from Tracking the Sun, 2024 Edition: host-owned residential systems installed in 2023 ran from $3.20 to $5.50 per watt, the 20th to 80th percentile of its national sample. LBNL adds that residential pricing in California, “which dominates the sample, is near the middle of the pack” (LBNL, checked September 23, 2026). Its August 2026 update reports that host-owned residential prices fell by $0.50 per watt in 2025 after adjusting for inflation.

To turn that into a rough total, multiply by system size. Purely as arithmetic, a 6-kilowatt (6,000-watt) system at the ends of that band works out to $19,200 to $33,000 before any incentive. That is a national benchmark from past installations, not a quote. Your roof, your electrical panel, the equipment and the company all move the number.

What sits inside a quoted price, and what to ask to see separately:

• Panels, inverters and racking, with model numbers.
• Design, permits, inspection and the utility interconnection application.
• Electrical work such as a main panel upgrade, which can be a large line item on its own.
• Roof repair or replacement, priced apart from the solar work.
• A battery, if any. LBNL found that among cash-purchase residential systems, the median price for solar paired with storage was $2.10 per watt higher than for solar alone, in data where about 80% of systems were in California (LBNL, 2026 update).
• Financing costs, which change the total you pay but not the equipment.

City-level detail lives in the solar cost guides for 57 California cities, and the California solar cost index compares them side by side. The system sizing guide explains how many kilowatts a household usually needs, and what a 10 kW system costs works one common size through the same data.

What solar has cost near you

The closest thing to a local price check is public. The CPUC’s California DG Statistics site has a Find an Installer search: enter a ZIP code, city or county and it lists solar and storage projects interconnected in the last 24 months, each with its cost per watt. Three cautions come with it. It covers only PG&E, SCE and SDG&E territory. The costs are “self-reported by applicants and no additional verification has been conducted.” And the cost per watt is figured on each system’s AC capacity, so it will not match a quote priced on the panels’ DC rating (CPUC DGStats, checked September 23, 2026). Use it to see the spread in your area, then compare your own quotes with each other.

For the utility, permit office and permit fee that shape the price in a specific city, the local cost guides go further. Some of the most searched:

• Solar panel cost in Los Angeles
• Solar panel cost in San Diego
• Solar panel cost in San Jose
• Solar panel cost in Bakersfield
• Solar panel cost in Fresno
• Solar panel cost in Rancho Cucamonga

How home solar works under California’s current rules

Panels turn sunlight into direct current, and an inverter converts it to the alternating current your home uses. When the panels make more than the house is using, the extra flows to the grid. When they make less, at night or on a cloudy afternoon, you draw from the grid as usual. How your utility values those two flows is what decides the savings.

For PG&E, SCE and SDG&E customers, the CPUC says that everyone applying to interconnect since April 15, 2023 takes service on the Net Billing Tariff. Exported power is credited at a rate reflecting its value to the grid, taken from the CPUC’s Avoided Cost Calculator, which is “usually lower than the retail rate” but “can rise above the retail rate on late summer evenings.” Customers on the older NEM 1.0 or 2.0 tariffs may stay on them for 20 years from their interconnection date, and new net billing customers get a nine-year legacy period on their tariff (CPUC, checked September 23, 2026).

The practical result: a kilowatt-hour you use at home is worth more than one you export. That pushes system design toward matching production to your own usage, and it is why batteries now show up in so many California proposals. City-run utilities such as LADWP, SMUD and Roseville Electric are outside the CPUC tariff and set their own solar billing rules, so a PG&E-style estimate does not fit their customers.

The details are in our guides to NEM 2.0 versus NEM 3.0, what net billing means for your bill and why you still get a utility bill with solar. The rate plan a solar home is put on is its own question: what rate solar homes pay (the solar tariff). Why exports are worth so little at midday, and more on summer evenings, is the California duck curve.

What solar costs per kilowatt-hour

A per-watt price tells you what the equipment costs. A per-kilowatt-hour figure tells you what the electricity costs, and that is the number to hold up against your utility rate. You can work it out from any quote in four steps:

1. Add up everything you will pay: the cash price, or every loan payment over the full term if you finance.
2. Take the first-year production estimate from the quote and check it against NREL’s PVWatts for your address.
3. Multiply by the number of years you expect to keep the system, trimming each year for panel degradation at the rate the panel warranty states.
4. Divide the total cost by the total kilowatt-hours.

A power purchase agreement skips the math: it states a price per kilowatt-hour, often with a yearly increase. For a lease, divide the monthly payment by the system’s monthly production. Then compare the result with what you pay for grid power during the hours your panels produce, shown for each utility in the California utility rate tracker. Under net billing, that retail rate is what solar saves on power you use at home; exported power earns the lower export credit instead.

How solar production changes month by month

A California system does not produce the same amount every month. Output peaks in the long days of late spring and summer and drops in the short, low-sun weeks around December, and coastal fog, shade and roof angle change the shape of that curve from one address to the next. That matters because your bill is settled against what you use each month, and under net billing a summer surplus exported to the grid is worth less than the winter power you buy back.

Ask every proposal for a month-by-month production estimate, not just a yearly total, and check it against NREL’s PVWatts calculator, which estimates the output of grid-connected systems for any address (NREL, checked September 23, 2026). For why December bills look different, see solar production in a California winter.

Do you need a battery with solar in California?

Not always, but the question now comes up in almost every quote. LBNL reports that California and Hawaii again had the highest residential battery attachment rates in 2025, against a national rate of 37% (LBNL, 2026 update). A battery lets you store daytime production for the evening peak instead of exporting it at the lower net billing credit, and it can back up chosen circuits in an outage. Whether it earns its cost depends on your rate plan’s peak window and how much you use after sunset. Start with the home battery storage guide and the battery payback analysis under net billing.

Solar incentives in California for 2026

• The federal credit is gone for new installs. The IRS says the residential clean energy credit (section 25D) “will not be allowed for any expenditures made after December 31, 2025,” and that an expenditure is made when the original installation is completed (IRS, checked September 23, 2026). If a 2026 quote still counts it, see how to compare the quote without the credit.
• Property tax. The Board of Equalization says installing a qualifying active solar energy system “will not result in either an increase or a decrease in the assessment of the existing property.” It is a new construction exclusion, not an exemption, and the statute is scheduled to sunset on January 1, 2027 (BOE, checked September 23, 2026). More in whether solar panels increase property taxes.
• Low-income programs. The CPUC lists DAC-SASH, which provides no-cost rooftop solar to income-qualified homeowners in disadvantaged communities and is administered by GRID Alternatives, plus SGIP incentives for low-income customers who pair solar with storage (CPUC, checked September 23, 2026). See low-income solar options in California.
• Battery rebates. SGIP is the state’s storage incentive; its current status is tracked on the SGIP battery rebate page.

The full list, utility by utility, is in the guide to California solar incentives and the solar rebates by California utility.

Is solar free in California?

The CPUC’s consumer guide answers this in one line: “Solar energy is rarely free. An honest company will be upfront about all the costs” (CPUC, version 4, checked September 23, 2026). “No cost” offers are usually leases or power purchase agreements. You pay nothing at signing, then pay the provider every month for the length of the contract, often with a yearly increase. That can still be a reasonable choice. It is not free. Our guide to whether free solar panels are real in California walks through the pitches you are likely to hear.

Should you get solar in California? Four questions before any quote

The CPUC’s consumer guide opens with a short screen for whether solar suits a home at all (CPUC, version 4, checked September 23, 2026). Run it before you invite a salesperson in:

1. Have you cut your use first? The guide notes that lowering energy use can shrink the system you need. A smaller system is a smaller loan or contract.
2. Do you qualify for a low-income program? Income-qualified PG&E, SCE and SDG&E customers have residential and community solar programs that the guide says could save money “with no financial contribution,” so check them before paying for a system.
3. Does your roof get sun? The guide says roofs that are mostly shaded or face due north are not good candidates.
4. Is the roof due for replacement? If you plan to replace it soon, do it before the panels go on, so you are not paying to remove and reinstall them later.

If the roof fails the screen, or you rent, the guide points to community solar, which supplies part of your power from projects elsewhere in the state. Programs vary, and the CPUC notes they may raise or lower your bill. More on each question: roof suitability, income-qualified solar programs and whether community solar is worth it.

Is solar worth it in California?

For many homeowners it can be, but the answer is personal. These are the inputs that decide it, roughly in order of weight:

1. Your utility and rate plan. Net billing rewards using solar output at home; municipal utilities have their own rules.
2. When you use power. Daytime use (working from home, pool pump, daytime EV charging) raises the share of production you keep.
3. The installed price. Compare cash prices per watt across at least three bids, as the CPUC recommends.
4. How you pay. A loan’s interest or a lease’s yearly escalator can erase the savings a cash purchase would show.
5. Your roof and your horizon. A roof due for replacement soon, heavy shade or a planned move shortens the payoff.

To see how many years a specific quote takes to pay for itself, use the solar payback period guide.

Is solar still worth it under NEM 3.0?

It can be, if the system is built for how net billing pays. When the CPUC adopted the tariff on December 15, 2022, it projected that an average residential solar customer would save $100 a month, and one with a battery at least $136, with systems paying off in 9 years or less on average (CPUC, checked September 24, 2026). Those are averages from 2022, not a forecast for your home.

What makes the numbers work now:

1. Size to what the house uses, not to zero out the year. A surplus left at the annual true-up is paid at about $0.02 to $0.04 per kWh, PG&E says (PG&E). The system sizing guide starts from your bill.
2. Move flexible loads into sunny hours. Laundry, dishwashing, pool pumps, water heating and EV charging run at midday use your own solar instead of exporting it.
3. Price a battery for the evening. The CPUC says customers can maximize net billing savings by adding storage, so they can use or export stored energy in the high-value evening hours.
4. Know the required rate. Net billing customers take an electrification time-of-use rate: E-ELEC at PG&E, TOU-D-PRIME at SCE and EV-TOU-5 at SDG&E (CPUC).
5. Apply before the end of 2027 at PG&E or SCE. Residential applicants before then get slightly higher export credits for nine years. SDG&E customers are excluded because of its higher rates (CPUC).
6. Model the monthly bill. Some charges never go away. PG&E’s Base Services Charge, about $24 a month since March 2026, cannot be offset by solar credits (PG&E).

CPUC figures are from its net billing page, checked September 24, 2026.

Make the quote survive worse assumptions

Ask the bidder to rerun the proposal with lower production, a larger remaining utility bill and any expected replacement cost. Compare solar alone with solar plus storage on the same usage and tariff. A battery is not automatically required, and a battery quote is not automatically good value.

Keep backup value separate from payback. A battery can protect chosen circuits in an outage without paying for itself quickly. Decide which circuits matter; the backup design, battery reserve and power limits belong in the proposal.

Reasons to pause and ask for a revised proposal:

• Production assumes an unshaded roof the site survey has not checked.
• The savings estimate removes the whole utility bill.
• The proposal mixes a cash price with a financed payment, or counts an incentive nobody has confirmed.
• A lease or PPA lacks clear transfer, buyout and service terms.

The case is weakest when little of your use happens while the sun is up and you will not add storage, when shade or roof age cut production, when you expect to move before it pays back, or when the price sits far above the benchmarks above.

Paying for solar: cash, loan, lease or PPA

With cash or a loan you own the system and its output. With a lease you rent the equipment for a fixed monthly payment; with a power purchase agreement you buy the electricity it produces at a set price per kilowatt-hour. Leases and PPAs move repairs to the provider but add a long contract, a yearly escalator in many cases and terms that follow the house if you sell. Compare them on the same system with the side-by-side of cash, loan, lease and PPA, and check the home-sale rules for leased systems before you sign. Live in a condo or an HOA community? Read HOA solar rights in California before you collect bids. If a roof system is out of reach, an income-qualified household may get a 20% solar bill discount with no panels.

Solar on new homes: the Energy Code requirement

Buildings whose permit applications are filed on or after January 1, 2026 must comply with the 2025 Energy Code (CEC, checked September 23, 2026). For newly constructed single-family homes and townhouses it requires a solar PV system. The required size is the smaller of two results: a roof-area method (18 watts per square foot of solar-ready area on steep-sloped roofs, 14 on low-sloped roofs) or a formula based on climate zone and floor area. No system is required when the calculated size is under 1.8 kWdc or the usable roof area is under 80 contiguous square feet, and a qualifying battery of at least 7.5 kWh can reduce the required PV size by 25%. Additions and alterations are exempt (CEC, checked September 23, 2026). If you are buying a new home, the builder’s system is already part of the price; ask whether it is owned or leased. Our guide to whether solar is required on new homes covers the exceptions and the battery option.

How much of California’s power comes from solar?

Solar power plants in California produced 50,666 gigawatt-hours in 2024, 23.44% of in-state generation. Counting imported power as well, solar was 21.30% of the state’s total power mix. Those figures leave out rooftop systems; the CEC says more than 17,400 megawatts of behind-the-meter solar has displaced roughly 10% of the energy utilities would otherwise supply (CEC, 2024 Total System Electric Generation, checked September 23, 2026). The full breakdown is in what share of California’s electricity is solar.

Looking for solar panels near you?

A search for “solar panels near me” usually means one of two things, and they lead to different places.

You want a system installed. Then you are shopping for an installer, not a panel store. In California, installing a solar energy product on a home is a home improvement that only a licensed contractor can do, and the contractor normally supplies the panels as part of the job (CSLB, checked September 23, 2026). The guide to finding solar installers near you shows the state tools that list who works in your ZIP code and how to check each one.

You want to buy panels yourself. A solar supply store or distributor will sell you equipment, but the permit and the utility’s approval still apply. Two checks first:

• The equipment. The California Energy Commission keeps Solar Equipment Lists of panels, inverters, batteries and meters that meet national safety and performance standards. The lists support incentive programs and utility interconnection and are updated three times a month (CEC, checked September 23, 2026). Because utilities and incentive programs lean on those lists, check the exact model number before you buy.
• Whether you can do the work. The owner-builder exemption in Business and Professions Code section 7044 lets owners work on their own home under limits: the work is done before any sale, you lived there for the 12 months before it is finished, and you use the exemption on no more than two structures in three years (CSLB, checked September 23, 2026). The details are in installing solar yourself in California.

Wondering which panel is best for a California roof? The CEC list is a minimum standard, not a ranking. For how individual brands compare, see the solar panel brand reviews.

Next steps: from a quote to a working system

1. Pull 12 months of usage and note your rate plan and generation provider from your bill.
2. Get at least three written bids. The guide to choosing and verifying a solar company lists local installers by city and shows how to check a license, and the solar quotes guide covers what each bid must come with.
3. Put the bids on the same basis with the checklist below.
4. Read the solar disclosure document on the contract’s front page. The CPUC guide notes you have at least three business days to cancel, five if you are 65 or older.
5. Expect design, permits, inspection and utility approval before the system switches on; the installation timeline shows each stage.

Weighing the trade-offs first? Read the pros and cons of solar panels in California.

Put the quotes on the same basis

A smaller monthly payment can hide a longer contract, less equipment or a larger remaining electric bill. Ask each bidder to fill the same gaps.