Guide / Solar quotes, United States

Is my solar quote fair? Check the price per watt

Toshikatsu Oga / October 16, 2026

Step 1: price per watt, from the cash price
What the public range says, and what it does not
Step 2: the tax credit line
Step 3: the loan, and the fee you do not see
Step 4: the labor inside the price
Step 5: the production estimate and the savings claim
Warning signs in the wording, not the numbers
What to ask the installer, in one message
Questions
Sources

Turn the total into a price per watt, then check three things the total hides. Divide the cash price by the system size in watts DC: a 20 panel, 8.0 kW system quoted at $30,400 is $3.80 per watt. In 2025 the median price at each of the top 100 U.S. residential installers ranged from $2.4 to $6.3 per watt, and roughly 60% of them had medians below $4 (Berkeley Lab, 2026 Data Update). Then check the tax credit line, because the federal Residential Clean Energy Credit (25D) is not allowed for any expenditure made after December 31, 2025 (IRS); check the loan, because dealer fees typically add 10% to 30% to the cash price (CFPB); and check the production estimate, which you can rerun yourself.

Step 1: price per watt, from the cash price

You need two numbers from the quote: the cash price before any credit, rebate or loan, and the system size in watts DC (direct current). The size is the panel count times the panel rating: 20 panels at 400 watts is 8,000 watts, or 8.0 kW DC. Some quotes print the inverter's AC size instead, which is usually smaller; ask for the DC figure so every quote is measured the same way.

Quote	Cash price	Size (DC)	Price per watt
A	$30,400	20 x 400 W = 8.0 kW	$3.80
B	$27,200	18 x 410 W = 7.38 kW	$3.69
C	$41,000	22 x 400 W = 8.8 kW	$4.66

Illustrative quotes, written for teaching. The arithmetic is the point: quote B is cheaper in total and also cheaper per watt; quote C costs $10,600 more than A for 0.8 kW more. Once each quote is a price per watt, you are comparing the same thing.

What the public range says, and what it does not

Berkeley Lab's Tracking the Sun collects project-level data on roughly 5.3 million U.S. systems installed through the end of 2025 (Berkeley Lab). Its 2026 update reports that installed prices for host-owned residential systems fell by $0.5 per watt year over year in inflation-adjusted terms, that median prices across the top 100 residential installers in 2025 ranged from $2.4 to $6.3 per watt, that roughly 60% had medians below $4 per watt, and that project-level pricing also varied considerably for individual installers (slides 8 and 38).

That range is where your quote sits, not a verdict on it. Battery storage, a main panel upgrade, roof work, a ground mount or premium panels all raise the price per watt for real reasons. What the range does tell you is when to ask: a stand-alone system priced well above $6.3 per watt is above the 2025 median of every top-100 installer in Berkeley Lab's chart, which sets apparent outliers aside, and the quote should say why.

Step 2: the tax credit line

Many solar quotes show a "net cost" after a 30% federal tax credit. For homeowners who buy the system, that credit was Section 25D, and Public Law 119-21 ended it. The IRS states: "The credit will not be allowed for any expenditures made after December 31, 2025", and an expenditure is treated as made "when the original installation of the item is completed" (IRS FAQ). Paying a deposit in 2025 does not help if the installation finished in 2026.

So for a system you buy and have installed in 2026, a quote that subtracts 30% for the federal credit is subtracting money you will not get. Ask the installer to show the price with no federal credit, and to name any state or utility incentive it counts, with the program name and amount in writing. The same check matters for loans, below.

Step 3: the loan, and the fee you do not see

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau found that many solar loans carry a hidden dealer fee that is added to the loan principal: such fees "typically range from between 10 to 30 percent of the cash price but can exceed 50 percent." In its example, a $30,000 cash price plus a $9,000 fee becomes a $39,000 loan; the lender sends $30,000 to the installer and keeps the $9,000, and lenders typically do not include those fees in the total cost of credit they show you (CFPB, Issue Spotlight).

The same report describes loans that re-amortize at a higher payment in month 19 unless you prepay, often 30% of the principal, the amount of the presumed tax credit (CFPB report). With the federal credit gone for 2026 installations, ask whether your loan has that feature and what the payment becomes if you do not prepay. The single most useful request: the cash price and the loan principal, side by side, on the same page. If they differ, the difference is the fee.

Step 4: the labor inside the price

Solar quotes rarely split out labor, but if yours does, it can be set against wages. The BLS May 2025 national wage for solar photovoltaic installers is $25.55 median and $38.45 at the 90th percentile per hour (BLS OEWS). A crew of three for two 8-hour days is 48 hours, or $1,226 to $1,846 in plain wages. These are what installers are paid, not what a company bills: insurance, payroll taxes, vehicles, design, permitting, overhead and profit sit on top, and no public rule fixes how much. Use the figure to ask what the labor line covers, not to call it high.

Step 5: the production estimate and the savings claim

The savings page of a solar proposal rests on two assumptions you can check: how many kilowatt-hours a year the system will make, and how fast your electricity rate will rise. For the first, the PVWatts Calculator from the Department of Energy's National Laboratory of the Rockies (formerly NREL, renamed December 1, 2025) "estimates the electricity production and energy value" of grid-connected systems (Data.gov, PVWatts). Enter your address, the system size and the roof's tilt and direction at pvwatts.nrel.gov and compare its annual kWh with the proposal's. For the second, ask what yearly rate increase the proposal assumes and where that number comes from.

Neither check says the proposal is wrong. A large gap in production, or a rate increase with no source, tells you which page of the proposal to question first.

Warning signs in the wording, not the numbers

"Your net cost after the 30% federal tax credit." For an owned system installed in 2026, the federal credit in Section 25D no longer applies (IRS). Ask for the price without it.
"This price is only good today." Most sales of $25 or more made at your home can be cancelled until midnight of the third business day under the FTC Cooling-Off Rule, which lists exceptions (16 CFR Part 429). See what to do when the price is only good today.
A monthly payment with no cash price. Without the cash price you cannot see the dealer fee (CFPB).
A large payment before installation. The FTC advises not paying the full amount up front (FTC). See how much deposit to pay a contractor.

What to ask the installer, in one message

The system size in kW DC, the panel model and count, and the inverter model.
The cash price with no federal credit subtracted, and each state or utility incentive by program name and amount.
If financed: the loan principal next to the cash price, the APR, and whether the payment changes if you do not prepay.
The annual kWh in the proposal and the rate increase it assumes, with the source of each.
Whether the price includes a main panel upgrade, roof work or a battery, each as its own line.

If you would rather not do the arithmetic, upload the quote and we lay out every line, mark the lines nobody can check, and write the questions for you. We are paid by homeowners only and take no fee from installers or lenders. Check a quote from $39, or get a free teardown first.

Questions

What is a fair price per watt for solar?

Public data give a range, not a fair price. In 2025 the median price at each of the top 100 U.S. residential installers ranged from $2.4 to $6.3 per watt, and roughly 60% had medians below $4 per watt (Berkeley Lab, 2026 Data Update). Batteries, panel upgrades and roof work raise the price per watt.

Can I still get the 30% federal solar tax credit in 2026?

Not for a system you own. The IRS says the Residential Clean Energy Credit (Section 25D) is not allowed for any expenditure made after December 31, 2025, and an expenditure is made when the installation is completed. State and utility incentives may still exist; ask for the program name.

How do I find the dealer fee in a solar loan?

Ask for the cash price and the loan principal on the same page. The CFPB found dealer fees typically run 10% to 30% of the cash price and are added to the principal; the difference between the two numbers is the fee.

How do I check a solar production estimate?

Enter your address, system size, tilt and direction in the PVWatts Calculator (pvwatts.nrel.gov) and compare its annual kWh with the proposal's. Then ask what yearly electricity rate increase the proposal assumes and where it comes from.

Sources

Every figure above links to the public record it comes from. Wages were looked up in USCCDB v1.0, which carries the BLS file as published. Agency pages, reports and rules are quoted as published on October 16, 2026; check the source for changes.

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