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21 working tools with the formula printed on the page. None of them asks for an email address before showing a result. None of them defaults the federal tax credit to 30%, because it is $0 for systems placed in service after 31 December 2025.

  • 21calculators
  • 0email walls
  • 0%default federal credit
  • 13formulas published in full

What it costs and what it returns

Seven ways of asking the same question: does this pay, and to whom. Every one of them defaults the federal credit to zero, because §25D is closed for systems placed in service after 31 December 2025.

How big it needs to be

From a year of kilowatt-hours to a system, a panel count, a battery and a roof decision. Planning figures, not designs, none of these knows what your roof is shaded by.

What the site and the grid will allow

The four screens that run before a design is settled: the service panel, the feeder your house sits on, the storm exposure where you live, and whether a roof is the right place at all.

After you sign

Two that deal with the years after the contract rather than the decision to sign it: where you sit in the interconnection sequence, and the window when inverter cover has ended and panel cover has not.

What you are actually signing

The three that deal with the document rather than the equipment. These are the ones people wish they had run first.

Why these work differently

The formula is on the page

Every calculator prints the arithmetic it uses, in full, where you can read it. If you disagree with an assumption you can see exactly which one it is and what changing it would do.

No email wall

The result appears as you type. We do not hold an answer back in exchange for a phone number, and nothing here dispatches a salesperson to your address.

The defaults are honest, not flattering

The federal credit defaults to zero because it has ended. Self-consumption defaults below 100% because exports are usually credited below retail. Defaults that overstate savings are a choice, and we made the other one.

Every assumption is sourced

The default rate is an EIA figure with a stated vintage. The default price per watt is a named survey benchmark. Where no primary source exists, we say so rather than inventing a number.

Questions about these calculators

Do I have to give an email address to see a result?
No. Every calculator here returns its result as you type, and none of them holds an answer back in exchange for an email address or a phone number.
Why do these calculators default the federal tax credit to 0%?
Because §25D is closed for systems placed in service after 31 December 2025. A calculator that still defaults to 30% overstates the return on any system being quoted now.
Can I see the arithmetic behind the answer?
Yes. Every calculator prints the formula it uses in full on the same page, so you can see which assumption you disagree with and what changing it would do.
Will these tell me whether a quoted price is fair?
No. HyreSolar does not install solar and holds no dataset of quoted prices, so no calculator here scores a price. They check arithmetic, completeness and structure instead.

Three things changed, and most solar advice has not caught up

Every calculator on this page defaults differently from the ones you will find elsewhere, and these are the reasons why.

1. The federal residential credit is closed. The IRS states it plainly: the Residential Clean Energy Credit under section 25D "is not available for any property placed in service after December 31, 2025." Every tool here therefore defaults the federal credit to zero, and says so on the page. A proposal or a calculator still applying 30% to a system you would install now is showing you a return that does not exist. This is the single most consequential change in residential solar economics in a decade and it is still widely mis-stated.

2. Export compensation is no longer retail in several large markets. Under traditional net metering, a kilowatt-hour exported was worth a kilowatt-hour imported. Under net billing — California's NEM 3.0 being the largest example — exports are compensated at a much lower avoided-cost value that varies by hour and season. That changes the whole design objective: the goal stops being "generate the most" and becomes "consume the most of what you generate", which is why battery storage and self-consumption now dominate the arithmetic in those markets.

3. The escalator is the term that decides a lease. On a lease or power purchase agreement, the annual payment increase is a small number in the contract and a very large number over twenty-five years. It is the clause least discussed at the kitchen table and the one that most determines whether the agreement was a good idea.

What follows for you. Any figure you read about solar that predates these changes is not conservative — it is wrong, in the optimistic direction. Check the date on everything, including on this site, where every page carries one.

Four numbers to carry into any solar conversation

0%federal residential credit on a system placed in service now. 26 U.S.C. §25D, terminated by Public Law 119-21, §70506.IRS / 26 U.S.C. §25D
~2×what a typical lease escalator does to the monthly payment across a 25-year termHyreSolar calculation
Your tariffNet metering or net billing decides whether the goal is generating most or self-consuming mostYour utility
Roof yearsHow long the covering has left. Under a decade means the roof decision comes first.HyreSolar recommendation

Reading a solar proposal

Nine checks. Most proposals are designed to be read as a monthly payment; these are the things that decide whether the deal is good.

  • Does it apply a federal tax credit?

    If it subtracts 30% for a system placed in service now, the proposal is wrong. Under 26 U.S.C. §25D, as amended by Public Law 119-21, §70506 on 4 July 2025: "The credit allowed under this section shall not apply with respect to any expenditures made after December 31, 2025." Ask them to reissue it with the credit at zero and see what the payback becomes.

  • Is there an escalator, and at what rate?

    On a lease or PPA. A payment that rises a few percent a year roughly doubles across a 25-year term. Ask for the total of all payments over the full term as a single number — it is rarely offered and it is the honest figure.

  • What production estimate is assumed, and from what model?

    Annual kWh in year one, the assumed annual degradation rate, and whether shading was modelled from a site survey or from aerial imagery. A production estimate is a model output, not a promise.

  • What electricity rate escalation is assumed?

    Savings projections are extremely sensitive to this. An aggressive assumed rate rise makes any system look good. Ask what happens to the numbers at a lower assumption.

  • What is the export compensation under your actual tariff?

    Net metering, net billing, or something else — and on what schedule. In a net billing market this determines the design.

  • Is the roof fit for the system's life?

    Panels last decades. Removing and reinstalling an array to replace a roof underneath it is a substantial cost that belongs in the decision now, not in year eight.

  • Who holds the warranties, and for how long?

    Panel, inverter, workmanship and roof penetration are typically four different warranties from up to four different parties with different terms. Get all four.

  • What happens if you sell the house?

    A lease or PPA has to be assumed by the buyer or bought out. This is a real friction at sale and the transfer terms are in the agreement.

  • Is anything filed against the property?

    Some financing arrangements place a lien or a UCC filing. Ask directly whether anything will be recorded against the title.

The order to work through this in

Solar decisions are usually made in the order a salesperson presents them, which is close to the reverse of the useful order.

  1. 1
    Settle the roof first

    Before anything else. Panels outlast most roof coverings, and removing and reinstalling an array to re-roof underneath it is a substantial cost. If the roof has under a decade left, that decision comes before the solar decision, not after it.

  2. 2
    Find out what your exports are actually worth

    Net metering or net billing, and on what schedule. In a net billing market the whole design objective changes, and a proposal built on retail-rate export assumptions is not describing your tariff.

  3. 3
    Size from your own consumption

    A year of kilowatt-hours from your own bills, not a rule of thumb from a roof area. Under net billing, oversizing to export is actively counterproductive.

  4. 4
    Price it with the federal credit at zero

    Under 26 U.S.C. §25D, as amended by Public Law 119-21, §70506: "The credit allowed under this section shall not apply with respect to any expenditures made after December 31, 2025." If a payback only works with 30% subtracted, it does not work.

  5. 5
    Only then compare ownership structures

    Cash, loan, lease or PPA. Note that the tax-position argument for ownership is weaker now that the federal credit has closed, which changes a comparison many people last looked at years ago.

  6. 6
    Read the agreement for the clauses, not the payment

    The escalator, the transfer terms if you sell, the warranty holders, and whether anything is recorded against your title. The monthly figure is the part designed to be read.

  7. 7
    Get two or three proposals on the same assumptions

    Same production model inputs, same rate escalation assumption, same credit treatment. Otherwise you are comparing three different sets of optimism rather than three systems.

Steps 1 and 2 cost nothing and are skipped in most sales conversations, because neither of them sells anything.

All fourteen, and the question each one answers

The third column is the useful one. Every tool here has a boundary, and knowing where it is saves asking it something it cannot answer.

ToolThe question it answersWhat it deliberately will not do
Savings calculatorWhat does this avoid on my electricity bill?Apply a federal credit. §25D is closed for systems placed in service now.
Payback calculatorHow long until the system has paid for itself in cash?Assume an aggressive utility rate rise to shorten the answer. The assumption is an input you control.
System sizeHow many kilowatts does my usage justify?Design an array. It is a planning figure and it cannot see your roof.
Panel countHow many modules is that, and will they fit?Lay out a roof. Obstructions, setbacks and shading are a site survey.
Battery sizingHow much storage covers what I actually want covered?Promise whole-home backup. What a battery carries depends on the loads you choose.
Net billingWhat is an exported kilowatt-hour actually worth to me?Know your tariff. Export compensation is utility- and schedule-specific.
Escalator calculatorWhat does that small annual percentage do over 25 years?Tell you a lease is bad. It shows the total and lets you decide.
Lease vs buyWhich ownership structure suits my situation?Assume you can use a tax credit. Ownership benefits depend on tax position.
Loan calculatorWhat does the financing actually cost?Hide dealer fees. A low advertised rate is frequently paid for in the system price.
Incentive finderWhat is available beyond the federal credit?Guarantee a programme is still funded. State and utility incentives open and close.
Proposal analyzerIs this document complete enough to compare?Tell you a price is fair. We hold no dataset of quoted prices.
Roof before solarShould the roof be replaced first?Inspect your roof. It gives you the arithmetic on removal and reinstallation.
Contract red flagsWhat in this agreement should I question?Give legal advice. It lists clauses worth asking about.
This hubWhich of the above do I need?Choose for you. Start from the decision, not the calculator.

The vocabulary, once

Terms that appear across these tools and in every proposal you will be shown, with the meanings they actually carry.

Net metering
Export compensation at the retail rate — a kilowatt-hour sent out is worth one brought back. Increasingly historical rather than current in large markets.
Net billing
Export compensation at an avoided-cost value that varies by hour and season, and is well below retail. California NEM 3.0 is the largest example. It changes the design objective from generating most to self-consuming most.
Self-consumption
The share of what you generate that you use on site rather than exporting. Under net billing this is the number that determines the economics, which is why storage entered the arithmetic.
Escalator
The fixed annual percentage increase in a lease or PPA payment. Small in the contract, roughly doubling over a 25-year term, and the clause least discussed at signing.
PPA
Power purchase agreement — you buy the output at a per-kWh rate rather than owning the system. Different from a lease, where you pay for the equipment.
Degradation
The annual decline in a module’s output, typically a fraction of a percent. A production estimate assumes a rate; ask which.
Placed in service
When installation is completed — not when the contract was signed or the invoice paid. The test that governs §25D eligibility, and the reason the termination date is sharper than people assume.
Interconnection agreement
The utility’s permission to connect and export. Separate from the building permit, and the step that most often delays a completed system from switching on.
Rapid shutdown
An NEC requirement for de-energising conductors on a roof for firefighter safety. It constrains equipment choice and is a code requirement rather than an upsell.
UCC filing
A financing statement recorded against property. Some solar financing places one; it is a fair question to ask directly before signing.

What HyreSolar is, and what it is not

We do not sell, install or finance solar. No panels, no inverters, no batteries, no loans, no leases.

We do not rank installers and there is no sponsored placement or referral fee behind anything on this site.

We hold no dataset of installed systems or quoted prices. Every figure across these tools is a named third party's published number, or arithmetic we performed on one and labelled as ours. Where a chart shows relative magnitude rather than data, its caption says so.

Why that matters here more than on most sites. Solar is sold on a projected saving, and almost every calculator on the internet is published by someone who profits when that projection looks good. Defaulting the federal credit to zero makes every payback figure on this site look worse than the figures you will be shown elsewhere. We do it because it is currently correct, and because a tool that flatters a decision you are about to spend twenty thousand dollars on is not a tool, it is an advertisement.

If you find something wrong here, tell us. Every page carries the date its figures were retrieved, precisely so that a stale one can be identified rather than quietly relied upon. This field changes faster than most and we would rather correct a page than defend it.

Written and audited by

HyreSolar Research

Primary-source research, data analysis and fact checking

We are a research desk, not a sales floor. We read the statute, the tariff, the code section, the federal filing or the manufacturer data sheet ourselves, and we publish the figure with the document it came from and the date we retrieved it. Where a number cannot be traced to a primary source, we publish the shorter page and say what we could not verify. That rule has cost us whole sections, and it is the reason the rest can be trusted.

160
primary sources read and cited
220
figures with a retrieval date
115
federal and state government sources
66
researched pages published

How this desk works

  • Primary sources only. Statutes from the legislature’s own publishing system, federal data from the agency that collects it, code text from the adopted edition, manufacturer claims from the data sheet. We do not cite an article that cites a source; we go and read the source.
  • Every figure carries its provenance. A named document and the date we retrieved it, so you can check it and so you know how old it is. Retrieval dates are not decoration: an EIA rate from May is a different fact from an EIA rate from August.
  • We publish what we could not verify. Every research page carries a section naming the things we tried to establish and could not, and why. A paywalled standard, a state website that refused the request, a manufacturer that publishes no figure at all.
  • We separate measurement from modelling from our own reasoning, and label which is which on the page. A laboratory measurement, an assumption inside a modelling tool and our own inference are three different kinds of claim and they are never presented as one.
  • We do not sell solar, and we take no payment for placement, ranking or a favourable mention. Nobody buys a position on this site.

Authorship on this site is organisational: the analysis belongs to the desk rather than to a named individual, and we do not publish credentials we do not hold. Our editorial policy sets out how we source, date and correct what we publish.