Is plug-in solar worth it at your home?

Payback, savings and whether it is allowed where you live, in under a minute. Your numbers, your local rules.

Find the right size for your home

1. Where is the kit going?

Country or US state

2. How many people live in your home?

1 2 3–4 5+

Typical for this household in Ohio: 9,000 kWh a year.

Or your yearly use, if you know it

kWh

3. Is someone home during the day?

Mostly home office, retired Partly some days Rarely out all day

4. How will it be mounted?

A balcony railing is near-vertical; a flat roof or garden can be tilted.

5. Your power price (optional)

$ / kWh

From your bill. Leave blank to use the Ohio average of $0.19 per kWh.

How much power?

Suggested for your home 1,150 W (2 panels)

Kits cost more here, so payback is slower. This size pays for itself fastest, in about 5 years. Based on a typical 9,000 kWh a year.

Suggested

Used at homeSent to the grid

1,150 W · from $899

Cheapest kit we found with at least 1,150 W: US Solar Supplier 1180 W Plug-In Solar Kit, 2 panels, 1,180 W. Mount and delivery are extra.

Add a battery No complete kit with a battery is on sale here yet.

Saves about $171 a year and pays for itself in 5–6 years.

Nothing you enter is stored. Results are estimates, shown as a range.