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Solar calculators and tools

28 tools for checking a solar quote, sizing a system and reading the contract. Each prints its method and its sources. None asks for an email.

28 tools no email, formula shown Every fixed number comes from a named, dated source, or from arithmetic on the figures you type. HyreSolar holds no price data and does not sell or install solar.

Start with the tool that matches the decision in front of you. 10 check what a system costs and returns. 6 size it. 4 test the site and the grid. 3 read the contract, and 5 cover the years after you sign.

None of them applies the 30% federal credit to a system bought now, because §25D ended for expenditures after 31 December 2025.

What it costs and what it returns

Payback, savings, loans, leases and dealer fees. Each one sets the federal credit to zero, because §25D ended for expenditures after 31 December 2025.

Solar savings calculator$57,710 (25-year bill savings at the defaults). Annual and 25-year bill savings from your rate, usage and offset. No 30% credit, because it ended. No email wall.Open the toolSolar loan dealer fee calculator5.79% (Effective APR on a 2.99% headline). Solves the rate you actually pay once a dealer fee sits inside the principal. Enter the loan document, get the cash-price rate.Open the toolUtility fixed charge impact$28/mo (Bill floor at a 90% offset). The part of the bill solar cannot reach. Shows why a zero bill is arithmetically impossible on most tariffs.Open the toolSolar payback calculator14.3 yr (Simple payback at the defaults). Simple cash payback from size, $/W, rate and self-consumption. Default federal credit is 0%.Open the toolSolar lease vs buy calculator$34,772 (The gap between buying and leasing). Nominal 25-year totals for cash (or financed) purchase versus an escalating lease.Open the toolSolar lease escalator calculator1.99× (What a 2.9% escalator does by year 25). What the monthly lease payment becomes in year 25, and the cumulative paid.Open the toolSolar loan calculator$37,500 (What a 20% dealer fee really finances). Unwind a dealer fee into financed principal, then the monthly payment and extra over cash.Open the toolSolar cost estimatorInstalled price for your system size from 21 dated, published prices per watt.Open the toolElectric bill calculator with solarYour monthly bill after solar, with self-use, exports and the fixed charge split out.Open the toolSolar PPA calculatorA PPA rate and its escalator against the utility rate over the whole term.Open the tool

How big the system needs to be

From a year of kilowatt-hours to a system size, a panel count, a battery and a roof decision. Planning figures, not a design.

Solar system size calculator10.65 kW (For a 14,000 kWh house). kW DC from annual kWh, peak sun hours and a derate. Not a shade-aware design.Open the toolSolar panel calculator28 (Panels for 12 kW at 440 W). Panel count and array area from a target kW and the datasheet wattage.Open the toolSolar battery size calculator26.7 kWh (To carry 2 kW for 12 hours). Usable kWh for backup hours and for shifting peak imports, after round-trip efficiency.Open the toolNEM vs net billing calculator13.4¢ (The gap a battery could capture). The cents-per-kWh gap between import rate and export credit, and what that gap is worth.Open the toolRoof before solar checker25 yr (The array term your roof must beat). Remaining covering life versus a 25-year array. A planning check, not an inspection.Open the toolHome battery runtime calculatorHow many hours a battery carries your load in an outage, with or without solar.Open the tool

What your site and the grid will allow

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.

Service panel upgrade check7.7 kW (Ceiling on a 200 A panel with a 200 A main). Screens a proposed inverter against NEC 705.12 before you are quoted for a service upgrade you may not need.Open the toolRooftop or community solar5 yr (The horizon that flips the answer). Screens whether rooftop or community solar fits your roof, shade, timeline and capital. Every weight published.Open the toolSolar hazard check67.76 (Hail events per 10k sq mi/yr, Oklahoma). Severe hail and wind exposure by state from 36,261 measured NOAA reports, normalized by land area.Open the toolHosting capacity screen3% (Of feeder headroom used by one 7.6 kW house). Screens a system against your utility map and the 15% fast-track rule. Shows why the feeder, not your roof, decides.Open the tool

What you are actually signing

Three tools that read the document rather than the equipment: the proposal, the escalator and the red-flag clauses.

Solar proposal analyzer$/W (Any quote, on comparable units). Normalise a quote to $/W, unwind a dealer fee, and price year-1 production. Not a market index.Open the toolSolar incentive finder$0 (The federal credit after 31 Dec 2025). Who would claim the federal homeowner credit under cash, loan, lease or PPA. State programs: DSIRE.Open the toolSolar contract red-flag checker10 (Contract-bearing items to check). Tick the expensive clauses. A count of questions to ask, not a fraud verdict.Open the tool

After the system is on the roof

Where you are in the interconnection queue, and the years when the inverter warranty has ended but the panel warranty has not.

Inverter replacement planner13 yr (Uncovered window on a 12-year inverter). Finds the year inverter cover ends and how long the array runs uncovered under a 25-year panel warranty.Open the toolInterconnection timeline tracker6 (Stages, three different organizations). Places you in the interconnection sequence, names who is actually holding it, and says whether the wait has become unusual.Open the toolSolar removal and reinstall estimatorA detach-and-reset budget for a reroof, from published per-panel prices.Open the toolSolar lease buyout calculatorA buyout quote against the remaining lease payments, in today’s money.Open the toolSolar home value calculatorWhat an owned system adds at sale, from the LBNL premium per watt, adjusted for age.Open the tool

Three changes that decide solar math in 2026

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. Proposals and calculators that predate the change still show it.

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 is 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% from a system bought now, the proposal is wrong. 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."

  • 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 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 modeled 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 can be 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

A sales pitch runs in the order that sells the system. The useful order starts with the roof and the tariff.

  1. 1
    Settle the roof first

    Before anything else. Panels can outlast the roof under them, 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 neither of them sells anything, which is why a sales conversation can skip them.

The core calculators, 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 ended for expenditures after 31 December 2025.
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 can be paid for in the system price.
Incentive finderWhat is available beyond the federal credit?Guarantee a program 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. California, the largest market, has moved new customers off it.
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 a step that can delay a completed system from switching on.
Rapid shutdown
An NEC requirement for de-energizing 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 labeled as ours. Where a chart shows relative magnitude rather than data, its caption says so.

Why that matters for a solar calculator. Solar is sold on a projected saving, and a calculator published by someone who profits from the sale gains 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 quickly, and we would rather correct a page than defend it.

Questions about these tools

Do I have to give an email address to see a result?
No. Every calculator here shows its result as you type, and none holds an answer back in exchange for an email address or a phone number.
Why do these calculators set the federal tax credit to zero?
§25D, the 30% residential credit, does not apply to expenditures made after 31 December 2025. A calculator that still subtracts 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 on the same page, so you can see which assumption you disagree with and what changing it does.
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 tool here scores a price. They check the arithmetic, the completeness and the structure of a quote instead.
Which tool should I start with?
Start from the decision. Deciding whether solar pays: the savings or payback calculator. Holding a quote: the proposal analyzer. Offered a lease: lease vs buy and the escalator calculator. Financing: the dealer fee calculator.

Sources and methodology

Figures dated September 5, 2026. Last reviewed .

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