Welcome to our comprehensive solar panel cost guide updated for 2020.
Solar panel price graph.
Changes in solar panel cost over time can be explained by swanson s law which states that the price of solar pv modules decreases by about 20 percent for every doubling in global solar capacity the law is named after richard swanson founder of high.
The average cost to install solar panels is from 10 626 to 26 460 after tax credit for a 6kw to 12kw system to power an entire house.
Mono and poly solar panels commonly used in homes today operate between a 13 22 efficiency rating.
Therefore if the solar panel output is 250 watts that single panel might cost you 187 50.
Although i ve had solar panels myself for three years and have a bit of solar info on the site i generally refer people off to other resources in the full knowledge they aren t ideal.
With higher efficiency government incentives and improved technology the prices of residential solar panels continued to plummet particularly over the past decade.
Today it s around 0 13 per watt or about 600 times less.
Today i m going to fix that.
A solar panel system is comprised of many pieces.
10 cost of solar panels cost of solar power charts.
The average solar panel payback period is 7 to 12 years and solar energy saves 600 to 2 000 per year on electricity costs.
However if a homeowner is trying to buy one or two panels on their own for a small diy project they will likely pay closer to 1 per watt.
The cost for residential solar panel systems has dropped a remarkable 61 percent since 2010.
Solar companies can typically get a single solar panel at a price of 0 75 per watt.
The average cost of solar panels has gone from 76 67 watt in 1977 to just 0 698 watt today the second figure is according to pvinsights and is even lower than the 2013 projected price in the chart below.
Average solar panel cost.
The most recent official data from the doe funded lawrence berkeley labs published in september 2019 found that the median cost of residential solar panels is 3 70 watt.
Solar panel prices change on a regular basis.
However solarreviews handles more than 1 000 quote requests per day and the current average price we see on our marketplace is 2 53 per watt.
Back in 1977 the price of solar photovoltaic cells was 77 for just one watt of power.
The price decreases over the past ten years are a major reason why homeowners are increasingly interested in installing solar panels.
That s according to the national renewable energy laboratory s nrel 2017 solar cost benchmark report.
Here s an exciting number.
What are the price trends for solar panels.
Most solar panels last for 50 years have a 25 year warranty and start generating a return on investment after 8.
The cost has generally been following swanson s law which states that the price of solar drops by 20 for every doubling of shipped product.
The price of solar has dropped by an incredible amount.
Check our solar panels page for current pricing.
Every week or two i get an email asking for information about going solar.
