United States

Solar cost per watt

Median residential solar cost was $4.0/W in 2024, ranging from $3.0 to $5.2/W. Sourced breakdown of what per-watt pricing includes and why it varies.

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What's a typical cost per watt for residential solar?

$4.0/W was the median for systems installed in 2024, per Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's survey of actual homeowner prices — before any tax credit or incentive. The middle range ran from $3.0/W at the 20th percentile to $5.2/W at the 80th percentile, so a typical quote can reasonably land anywhere across that band.

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Why is there such a wide range?

Financing method is one measurable driver — cash purchases carried a $3.5/W median versus $4.7/W for loan-financed systems in 2024, a gap that's grown over time due to dealer fees built into financed pricing. LBNL also notes the pricing distribution has "a wide upper tail," and that the single most common price point for cash purchases actually falls below $3/W — under the median, not at it.

Does cost per watt include the tax credit?

No — LBNL's reported figures are gross, before any incentive or tax credit. That distinction matters more than usual right now: the federal residential credit under 26 U.S.C. §25D was repealed for any expenditure made after December 31, 2025, so a quoted per-watt price today reflects the full, un-credited cost. See our tax credit page for what that repeal actually means.

Is cost per watt the same as a modeled benchmark?

No, and conflating them is a common mistake. NREL's separate modeled benchmark for a representative Q1 2024 system is $3.25/W — a different figure measuring a different thing (a specific configuration, not a survey of prices paid). See our full cost page for how the two compare and why they diverge.

Sources

3 cited

2024 market price percentiles and financing gap: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, U.S. Distributed Solar and Storage — 2025 Data Update, October 2025 (checked 2026-08-18).
Federal credit repeal: CRS Insight IN12611, 2025-09-25; IRS, Residential Clean Energy Credit (checked 2026-08-18).
Modeled benchmark comparison: NREL/TP-7A40-92536, January 2025 (checked 2026-08-18).

How it works

From “is it worth it?” to a number you can check

Start with your power bill

The kilowatt-hours you used over the last year is the number every honest quote is built from. Without it, any price is a guess.

See what the roof can actually make

Pitch, orientation and shade decide how much of that usage a system can realistically cover. This is the step door-to-door pitches skip.

Put the quotes on one basis

Cash, loan and lease are three different products. Compare system size and total price first, then compare the financing separately.

Matched with a licensed local company

The work is done by licensed local solar companies. We do not sell panels and we do not fit them.

How we work

What to expect from this site

Every figure here carries its source and the date it was checked.

Answer first, then the working

Each page opens by answering its own question in a couple of sentences, then shows the arithmetic underneath for anyone who wants to check it.

Ranges, not one confident number

Solar pricing moves with the roof, the state, the utility and the financing. A single national figure fits almost nobody, so we publish the spread our sources support.

We say when the maths does not work

A shaded roof on a low tariff can be a poor buy. That is a legitimate answer to the question and you will find it here rather than a reason to keep reading.

We are not the contractor

We do not sell panels and we do not fit them, so nothing here depends on you signing. Licensed local companies do the work.

Questions

Frequently asked

The questions homeowners actually ask before they sign anything.

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What's the typical range for solar cost per watt?

$3.0 to $5.2/W covers the 20th to 80th percentile of 2024 installs, per LBNL, with a $4.0/W median. That's before any incentive.

Does a bigger system cost less per watt?

That specific relationship isn't broken out in this brief's sourced figures. What is sourced is that financing method and the specific price components included both move the per-watt figure meaningfully.

Should I compare quotes by total price or cost per watt?

Cost per watt lets you compare systems of different sizes on a common basis, which is why it's the standard reported metric — but confirm what's included (permitting, financing fees, roof work) since that's what drives the spread between quotes.

Is the federal tax credit included in advertised per-watt prices?

The sourced LBNL figures are gross, before any credit. And as of the 2025 repeal of 26 U.S.C. §25D, no federal residential credit applies to expenditures made after December 31, 2025 regardless.

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