Average Cost of Solar Panels by State: Installed Prices, 2025

The average cost of solar panels fell to $3.6 per watt in 2025

Berkeley Lab's installed-price records show the median US residential price falling $0.5 per watt in one year after inflation, to $3.6 per watt in 2025.

The median installed price for host-owned, stand-alone residential solar in the United States was $3.6 per watt (DC) in 2025 and $4.1 per watt in 2024, both in 2025 dollars and before any incentive (Berkeley Lab, 2026 Data Update). Berkeley Lab describes the change as a $0.5 per watt year-over-year decline in inflation-adjusted terms. Third-party-owned systems (leases and power purchase agreements) are excluded because their reported prices are not what a homeowner pays.

Recomputing the series from the Tracking the Sun public data file (July 28, 2026 version) gives a US median of $3.57 per watt in 2025, $4.09 in 2024, $5.86 in 2015 and $9.79 in 2010, all in 2025 dollars. From 2015 to 2025 the real median fell $2.29 per watt, or 39.1%. In nominal dollars the decline over the same decade was 17.3%, from $4.32 to $3.57.

Prices vary widely around the median. In 2025 the 20th percentile system in the public file cost $2.65 per watt and the 80th percentile system $4.79 per watt. Berkeley Lab attributes the slow decline since 2014, $0.1 to $0.2 per watt per year, mainly to soft costs and balance-of-system costs, which make up roughly 80% of the residential installed price.

Installed price per watt: The up-front price the system owner paid divided by the array's DC capacity in watts, before tax credits or rebates. It can include loan dealer fees and related electrical or roofing work.

State medians ranged from $3.0 to $4.1 per watt in 2025

Among the 16 states Berkeley Lab reports for 2025, Washington had the lowest median price and New Mexico and North Carolina the highest, a spread of $1.1 per watt.

Berkeley Lab's 2025 state medians for host-owned, stand-alone residential PV were $3.0 per watt in Washington, $3.1 in Arizona and Florida, $3.3 in Connecticut and California, $3.4 in Massachusetts and Oregon, $3.5 in Rhode Island, $3.7 in New Hampshire and New Jersey, $3.9 in Wisconsin and New York, $4.0 in Maryland and Texas, and $4.1 in North Carolina and New Mexico (2025 dollars). A state appears only with at least 20 priced systems.

California makes up roughly half of the residential sample and is a relatively low-price state for residential PV. Berkeley Lab notes that state differences can reflect financing mix, market size, permitting and, in some states, a single large installer with unusual prices.

The public file supports price medians for 11 states in 2025. Nine of the 11 match Berkeley Lab's published values within $0.1 per watt and Florida is close. Texas is not: the public file gives $3.08 per watt from 389 systems against Berkeley Lab's $4.0. The public file excludes data provided under confidentiality agreements, which likely explains the gap, so the published medians are used where both exist.

A typical 7.7 kW home system cost about $27,720 before incentives

Multiplying the 2025 median price per watt by the 7.7 kW median system size gives a typical pre-incentive price of $27,720; by state, the same method runs from $20,800 in California to $33,300 in New York.

The median US residential system was 7.7 kW in 2025, up from 7.2 kW in 2024 (Berkeley Lab). At the $3.6 per watt median price, a 7.7 kW system works out to $27,720 before incentives. For known cash purchases ($3.0 per watt) the same system is $23,100; for known loan-financed systems ($4.5 per watt) it is $34,650.

State results use each state's median price and the state's median system size in the public file. California's typical system (6.30 kW) came to $20,800, while New York (8.55 kW) came to $33,300 and New Jersey to $32,200. Larger systems in states such as Florida (9.59 kW) offset lower per-watt prices.

Soft costs were 56.0% of the federal residential benchmark

The national laboratories' bottom-up benchmark prices a representative 8 kW system plus a 13.5 kWh battery at $4.59 per watt; office work, overhead and installation labor outweigh the hardware.

The Q1 2025 PV System Cost Benchmarks (published by DOE, Berkeley Lab, the National Laboratory of the Rockies and Sandia) model a residential 8 kW-DC system at a modeled market price of $2.95 per watt without storage and $4.59 per watt with a 13.5 kWh battery, in 2024 dollars. Restated in 2025 dollars with CPI-U, the PV-only benchmark is $3.03 per watt, $0.57 below the $3.6 reported median.

In the PV-plus-battery benchmark (DOE Figure 3), modules account for 7.0% of the price, inverters 7.8% and the battery 15.0%. Officework, the installer's off-site work, is 29.3%; other developer costs and overhead 19.1%; on-site fieldwork 7.6%. Hardware totals 44.0% and soft costs 56.0%.

For PV alone, the Q1 2024 benchmark in NLR Table A-5 splits $3.25 per watt into modules $0.40 (12.3%), inverter $0.37 (11.4%), balance of system $0.62 (19.1%), installation labor $0.21 (6.5%) and soft costs $1.64 (50.5%). The benchmark does not report permitting as a separate line, so it is counted inside soft costs here.

How much a solar battery adds: $1.3 per watt at the median

Paired solar-plus-storage systems had a median price of $4.9 per watt of PV in 2025, $1.3 above stand-alone systems, while 37% of new residential systems included a battery.

Berkeley Lab reports a 2025 median of $4.9 per watt of PV capacity for host-owned residential systems with a battery, against $3.6 for stand-alone PV. On a 7.7 kW system that difference is $10,010. Among known cash purchases the gap was $2.1 per watt ($5.1 against $3.0), up from $1.7 per watt in 2024 (2025 Data Update). About 80% of the paired price data come from California.

The residential storage attachment rate, the share of new PV systems installed with a battery, was 9% in 2023, 25% in 2024 and 37% in 2025 across the US. California rose from 14% to 58% to 74% following changes to its net metering rules; all other states combined rose from 5% to 7% to 17%, with large increases in Arizona and Texas. Hawaii's rate was 85% in 2024. See the sibling report on net metering by state for the policy side.

Battery-only prices are thinner. In the public file, only California records report a separate battery price. For 2025, the median was $1,267.15 per kWh across 2,733 host-owned systems, with a median battery of 15.0 kWh and a median battery price of $22,490. The national labs' benchmark implies a smaller increment: $13,120 for 13.5 kWh, or $972 per kWh in 2024 dollars.

Loan-financed systems cost $1.5 per watt more than cash purchases

Financing type moves the price more than installer size: known loan-financed systems had a median of $4.5 per watt in 2025 against $3.0 for cash purchases.

Berkeley Lab attributes part of the loan premium to dealer or origination fees rolled into the up-front price; the figures exclude interest. On a 7.7 kW system the $1.5 per watt gap equals $11,550. The public file's inferred flags give similar medians: $2.98 per watt for cash (18,011 systems) and $4.25 for loans (20,680 systems).

Installer size shows no simple pattern. In the 2025 public file, the 6 installers with 1,000 or more priced systems had a median of $3.30 per watt, installers with 100 to 999 systems $3.80, and the 1,753 smallest installers $3.50. Berkeley Lab's own installer chart shows medians from $2.4 to $6.3 per watt among the top-100 installers: roughly 60% below $4 per watt, almost 25% below $3 and about 10% above $5.

Third-party ownership grew to 40% of residential installs in 2025, from 38% in 2024 and 23% in 2023. Prices for leased and PPA systems are excluded from all medians in this report.

The 30% federal credit ended for systems placed in service after 2025

Every price in this report is before incentives. Since January 1, 2026, the federal residential credit no longer applies to new home systems, and monthly installations show a December 2025 spike.

The IRS states that the Residential Clean Energy Credit equals 30% of qualified costs for property installed from 2022 through December 31, 2025, and is not available for property placed in service after that date. Details on the change are in the sibling report on the solar tax credit.

EIA's monthly estimates show net residential small-scale capacity rising 516.4 MW in December 2025, the largest month in the 2025 and 2026 files, then 195.0 MW in January 2026 (EIA-861M, August 2026 data released October 23, 2026). From February to August, additions were 2,065.5 MW in 2026 against 2,034.4 MW in 2025, a 1.5% difference. US residential capacity reached 42,735.3 MW in August 2026, 10.2% above August 2025.

For bill context, see average electric bill by state; this report does not compute payback periods. Homeowners comparing quotes can find licensed contractors through hire an electrician and background on solar and low-voltage work.

How we ranked the states

Get the calculations (CSV)

State by state

1. The US median installed price for host-owned, stand-alone residential PV was $3.6 per watt in 2025 (2025 dollars, before incentives).^[1]
2. The 2025 median was $0.5 per watt below 2024 ($4.1) after inflation.^[1]
3. The median US residential system size was 7.7 kW in 2025, up from 7.2 kW in 2024.^[1]
4. A 7.7 kW system at $3.6 per watt comes to $27,720 before incentives (ECW calculation).^[1]
5. The real US median fell from $5.86 per watt in 2015 to $3.57 in 2025, a 39.1% decline (public file, 2025 dollars).^[2][8]
6. Across 16 states in 2025, median prices ranged from $3.0 per watt in Washington to $4.1 in New Mexico and North Carolina.^[1]
7. California's 2025 median was $3.3 per watt; Texas's was $4.0.^[1]
8. Known cash-purchase systems had a 2025 median of $3.0 per watt; known loan-financed systems $4.5.^[1]
9. Paired PV-plus-storage systems had a 2025 median of $4.9 per watt of PV capacity, against $3.6 for stand-alone PV.^[1]
10. The US residential storage attachment rate rose from 9% in 2023 to 25% in 2024 and 37% in 2025.^[4][1]
11. The median residential battery paired with PV was 13.5 kWh in 2025.^[1]
12. California records in the public file show a 2025 median battery component price of $1,267.15 per kWh.^[2]
13. The Q1 2025 federal benchmark prices an 8 kW residential system at $2.95 per watt without storage and $4.59 with a 13.5 kWh battery (2024 dollars).^[5]
14. Residential third-party ownership reached 40% of installs in 2025.^[1]

In short

• The US median installed price of host-owned residential solar was $3.6 per watt in 2025, down from $4.1 in 2024 in 2025 dollars (Berkeley Lab).
• A typical 7.7 kW system therefore cost about $27,720 before incentives in 2025.
• In real terms the median fell 39.1% from 2015 to 2025 and 63.5% from 2010, based on the public data file.
• Washington had the lowest 2025 state median ($3.0 per watt); New Mexico and North Carolina had the highest ($4.1).
• Paired solar-plus-battery systems had a median of $4.9 per watt of PV, $1.3 above stand-alone PV, or about $10,010 on a 7.7 kW system.
• Battery attachment rose from 9% of new residential systems in 2023 to 37% in 2025, and 74% in California.
• Loan-financed systems had a median of $4.5 per watt against $3.0 for cash purchases.
• Soft costs made up 56.0% of the federal Q1 2025 residential solar-plus-battery benchmark.

Common questions

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How we built this report

Source selection: installed prices come from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's Tracking the Sun program, the national project-level dataset with data contributed by 72 utilities, agencies and other entities in 31 states, using the 2026 Data Update deck (August 2026) and the public data file version of July 28, 2026. Cost structure comes from the Q1 2025 PV System Cost Benchmarks (DOE with Berkeley Lab, the National Laboratory of the Rockies and Sandia) and NLR report TP-7A40-92536. Capacity trends come from EIA-861M (August 2026 data). Vendor and marketplace averages were reviewed for comparison only and are not used as figures.

Inclusion rules for computed medians follow Berkeley Lab's stated method: residential customer segment; host-owned systems only (third_party_owned_inferred = 0); stand-alone PV (technology_type = pv-only); self-installed systems excluded; nominal prices outside $1 to $20 per watt excluded as entry errors. Real values use BLS CPI-U annual averages (2025 = 321.943). Battery prices use battery_price divided by battery_rated_capacity_kWh for host-owned paired systems, keeping $100 to $5,000 per kWh.

Conflicting numbers: where Berkeley Lab publishes a value (national, state, financing, paired medians, attachment rates, sizes), the published value is used because it includes confidential records withheld from the public file. Public-file computations are used for the long-run series, the 2015 and 2010 comparisons, battery prices per kWh and installer-volume bins, and are labeled. Where the 2026 edition revised a 2024 value from the 2025 edition (California attachment 57% to 58%; other states 8% to 7%), the 2026 edition value is shown and the revision noted.

Derived metrics: typical system price = median $/W x median kW x 1,000 (not the median system price). State typical prices use the state's published median $/W and the state's public-file median size, only where the size sample has at least 100 systems from 2024 or 2025; Texas is excluded because its 2025 public-file records are half paired systems and diverge from Berkeley Lab's size chart. Every formula and input is listed in derived_metrics.csv.

Limitations: installed prices are self-reported; California dominates the sample and about 80% of paired pricing data; state coverage depends on which agencies share data, so many states have no 2025 price. The federal benchmark models a representative system and is not a price survey. Values read from chart data labels are rounded to $0.1 per watt or 1%. This report gives no tax, financial or purchasing advice.

Last updated 2026-10-27. Next expected inputs: Berkeley Lab's annual data update (typically late summer) and EIA-861M monthly releases (September 2026 data due end of November 2026).

This report presents published data with its limitations. It is not legal, financial or investment advice.

Sources by tier

Tier 1: primary and official sources (14)

• [1] Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. U.S. Distributed Solar and Storage: 2026 Data Update (summary slide deck, August 2026). 2024 to 2025 installs. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [2] Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Tracking the Sun public data file (TTS_LBNL_public_file_28-Jul-2026_all.csv). 1998 to 2025 installs. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [3] Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. User Guide for the Distributed Solar Public Data (version August 7, 2026). 2026. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [4] Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. U.S. Distributed Solar and Storage: 2025 Data Update (summary slide deck). 2023 to 2024 installs. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [5] National Laboratory of the Rockies (formerly NREL) for U.S. DOE. Q1-2025 Solar Photovoltaic System Cost Benchmarks (dataset and description). Q1 2025. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [6] U.S. Department of Energy. Solar Photovoltaic System Cost Benchmarks (Figure 3, residential PV+ESS, 2024 USD). Q1 2025. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [7] National Laboratory of the Rockies (formerly NREL). Documenting 15 Years of Reductions in U.S. Solar Photovoltaic System Costs (NREL/TP-7A40-92536). 2010 to 2024. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [8] U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. CPI-U, U.S. city average, all items (CUUR0000SA0), annual averages. 2010 to 2025. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [9] U.S. Energy Information Administration. Form EIA-861M small-scale solar PV capacity, 2026 (August 2026 data). January to August 2026. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [10] U.S. Energy Information Administration. Form EIA-861M small-scale solar PV capacity, 2025. 2025. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [11] Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. U.S. Distributed Solar and Storage Data (program page; Internet Archive copy of 2026-10-17, live page returned HTTP 403). through 2025. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [12] National Laboratory of the Rockies (formerly NREL). Solar Installed System Cost Analysis. 2026. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [13] U.S. Energy Information Administration. Form EIA-861M detailed data (release schedule). 2026. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [15] Internal Revenue Service. Residential Clean Energy Credit. 2022 to 2025. Accessed 2026-10-27.

Tier 2: trade bodies, market research, company data (1)

• [14] Tesla. Powerwall product page (Internet Archive copy of 2026-07-12; live page returned HTTP 403). 2026. Accessed 2026-10-27.