How Much Does Solar Cost? National Prices and Why They Vary by State
Solar is priced per watt of capacity. The most comprehensive public dataset is Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's annual distributed solar update, which compiles millions of systems from utilities, state agencies, and permitting data.
National benchmarks (systems installed in 2024, LBNL, Oct 2025)
All figures are gross prices before incentives, in real 2024 dollars per watt (DC), for host-owned (not leased) stand-alone residential systems:
| Measure | Price |
|---|---|
| 20th percentile | $3.0/W |
| Median | $4.0/W |
| 80th percentile | $5.2/W |
| Median, cash purchase | $3.5/W |
| Median, loan-financed | $4.7/W |
LBNL notes loan-financed systems are higher "due partly to the loan fees rolled into the up-front price," and that the median residential system size was 7.2 kW. Multiply your proposed size by $/W to sanity-check a total — but treat these as reference points, not a quote.
Why prices differ by state
LBNL reports that median prices "vary across states" and that differences can reflect "financing choices, market size, population density, permitting processes, etc.," plus occasionally a single large installer with unusual prices. State-level medians are published in LBNL's data viewer and appendix (states with at least 20 observations). Check the viewer for your state rather than relying on a third-party ranking.
Installer pricing varies too: across the top 100 residential installers in 2024, LBNL found median prices from $2.7 to $6.5/W.
What else changes your cost
- System size (driven by your usage) and roof complexity
- Adding a battery (see our battery guide)
- Financing fees
- Incentives: Federal tax credit status: The federal residential clean energy credit (25D) doesn't apply to expenditures made after December 31, 2025, and the IRS treats an expenditure as made when installation is completed. Systems whose installation is completed in 2026 do not qualify for it. State and utility incentives vary — see DSIRE.
These are historical figures; 2026 prices may differ.
Sources
- Barbose et al., Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, "U.S. Distributed Solar and Storage: 2025 Data Update" (October 2025) — https://emp.lbl.gov/sites/default/files/2025-10/Distributed%20Solar%20%26%20Storage-2025%20Data%20Update.pdf (accessed Oct 20, 2026); data viewer: https://emp.lbl.gov/tracking-the-sun
- IRS, "FAQs for modification of sections 25C, 25D, 25E, 30C, 30D, 45L, 45W, and 179D under Public Law 119-21 (OBBB)" — https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/faqs-for-modification-of-sections-25c-25d-25e-30c-30d-45l-45w-and-179d-under-public-law-119-21-139-stat-72-july-4-2025-commonly-known-as-the-one-big-beautiful-bill-obbb (accessed Oct 20, 2026)
- DSIRE (N.C. Clean Energy Technology Center, NC State University) — https://www.dsireusa.org/ (accessed Oct 20, 2026)
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Last reviewed 2026-10-20.
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