Average cost of solar panels per watt
The median installed price of a home solar system was $3.60 per watt in 2025, the most recent year in Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's annual tracking of distributed solar. The lab counts the up-front price the owner paid before any incentive, in 2025 dollars, and leaves out leased and third-party-owned systems.[1] Prices fell $0.5 per watt in a year after inflation, from $4.10 in 2024, and the median system grew from 7.2 kW to 7.7 kW.[1]
| Group | 2024 | 2025 | 7.7 kW at the 2025 median |
|---|---|---|---|
| All owner-purchased | $4.10 | $3.60 | $27,720 |
| Bought with cash | $3.60 | $3.00 | $23,100 |
| Bought with a loan | $4.80 | $4.50 | $34,650 |
Loan-financed systems carried a reported up-front price $1.5 per watt higher than cash purchases. LBNL bases the cash and loan split only on systems whose financing it can identify with confidence, about 45% of the total.[1] Read from the lab's chart, the middle 60% of all systems cost roughly $2.7 to $4.9 per watt.
Cost of solar panels by state
State medians in 2025 ranged from $3.00 per watt in Washington to $4.10 in New Mexico, among the states with at least 20 systems in the data. California, about half of the sample, is a relatively low-cost state.[1]
| State | Median per watt | 7.7 kW system | 10 kW system |
|---|---|---|---|
| Washington | $3.00 | $23,100 | $30,000 |
| Arizona | $3.10 | $23,870 | $31,000 |
| Florida | $3.10 | $23,870 | $31,000 |
| Connecticut | $3.30 | $25,410 | $33,000 |
| California | $3.30 | $25,410 | $33,000 |
| Massachusetts | $3.40 | $26,180 | $34,000 |
| Oregon | $3.40 | $26,180 | $34,000 |
| Rhode Island | $3.50 | $26,950 | $35,000 |
| New Hampshire | $3.70 | $28,490 | $37,000 |
| New Jersey | $3.70 | $28,490 | $37,000 |
| Wisconsin | $3.90 | $30,030 | $39,000 |
| New York | $3.90 | $30,030 | $39,000 |
| Maryland | $4.00 | $30,800 | $40,000 |
| Texas | $4.00 | $30,800 | $40,000 |
| North Carolina | $4.10 | $31,570 | $41,000 |
| New Mexico | $4.10 | $31,570 | $41,000 |
States not listed had too few systems for a reliable median. Where you live also changes how much power the panels make and what that power is worth, so a cheaper state is not always the better payback; the solar calculator combines price, sunshine and your electric rate.
Average cost by system size
Price per watt did not fall steadily with size in 2025. The band medians ranged from $4.50 per watt for the smallest systems to $3.20 for those over 12 kW, but LBNL notes that economies of scale were not especially evident and other factors may dominate.[1]
| System size | Median per watt | Cost at band midpoint |
|---|---|---|
| 2 kW or less | $4.50 | $9,000 (2.0 kW) |
| 2–3 kW | $4.20 | $10,500 (2.5 kW) |
| 3–4 kW | $3.50 | $12,250 (3.5 kW) |
| 4–5 kW | $3.40 | $15,300 (4.5 kW) |
| 5–6 kW | $4.00 | $22,000 (5.5 kW) |
| 6–7 kW | $4.00 | $26,000 (6.5 kW) |
| 7–8 kW | $4.10 | $30,750 (7.5 kW) |
| 8–9 kW | $3.80 | $32,300 (8.5 kW) |
| 9–10 kW | $3.70 | $35,150 (9.5 kW) |
| 10–11 kW | $3.60 | $37,800 (10.5 kW) |
| 11–12 kW | $3.50 | $40,250 (11.5 kW) |
| Over 12 kW | $3.20 | $41,600 (13.0 kW) |
Why two quotes for the same house differ
Installers price very differently. Among the 100 largest residential installers in 2025, median prices ranged from $2.4 to $6.3 per watt; roughly 60% had medians below $4 per watt, almost 25% below $3, and about 10% above $5.[1] Equipment explains part of that, but soft costs, such as labor, permitting, sales and overhead, together with other balance-of-system costs, make up roughly 80% of the installed price.[1] Divide each quote by its size in watts and compare it with the medians above. Our solar panel cost calculator takes your own quote, panel count and any rebate.
What a battery does to the average
Batteries are now common: 37% of new home systems in 2025 included one, up from 25% a year earlier, with California at 74% and the other states at 17%.[1] Systems with storage had a median of $4.90 per watt of panels, against $3.60 for solar alone; for cash buyers the gap was $2.1 per watt. The median battery held 13.5 kWh.[1] About 80% of the paired-system price data come from California, so treat the storage figures as indicative. The solar battery backup page sizes a battery for an outage.
Solar shingles and roof tiles cost more per watt
Roofing-integrated solar, such as solar shingles, has consistently cost more than panels on racks. Using LBNL's data, NREL reported an average of $5.02 per watt for residential roof-integrated systems in 2021, against $3.92 for conventional rooftop systems.[2] If the roof needs replacing anyway, price both jobs: the roof replacement cost calculator covers the roof itself.
What the averages leave out
- Incentives. Prices are before incentives. The federal residential clean energy credit (30% through 2025) is not available for systems installed after December 31, 2025.[3] State and utility rebates vary.
- Your roof and wiring. Re-roofing, an electrical panel upgrade or trenching are usually extra.
- Financing. Interest is a cost too. A HELOC, a home equity loan and an installer loan can produce very different totals; compare them with the home improvement loan calculator.
Small-scale solar keeps growing: EIA reports that California alone produced 37% of U.S. small-scale solar generation in 2025.[4]
Worked example
A Texas homeowner has two quotes for the same 8 kW system, one priced like the 2025 cash-purchase median and one like the loan-financed median. Divide each by 8,000 watts to compare:
- Quote A: $3.00 per watt × 8,000 = $24,000.
- Quote B: $4.50 per watt × 8,000 = $36,000, a difference of $12,000.
- At the Texas median of $4.00 per watt, the same system would be $32,000.
Ask what each quote includes and what the cash price would be before comparing financing, then run the lower total through the solar calculator to see the payback year.
Frequently asked questions
What is the average cost of solar panels for a house?
The 2025 median was $3.60 per watt installed, before incentives, for a median 7.7 kW system: about $27,720.[1]
Are solar panels getting cheaper?
Yes: the median fell from $4.10 per watt in 2024 to $3.60 in 2025 after inflation, with a larger drop for cash purchases.[1]
Why is solar cheaper in some states?
Installer competition, labor and permitting costs and market size differ. In 2025 the lowest state median in LBNL's data was Washington ($3.00 per watt) and the highest listed New Mexico ($4.10).[1]
How much more does solar with a battery cost?
About $1.3 more per watt of panels at the 2025 medians ($4.90 vs $3.60), or roughly $10,010 on a 7.7 kW system.[1]
Sources
- U.S. Distributed Solar and Storage: 2026 Data Update (Tracking the Sun)
- Observations and Lessons Learned From Installing Residential Roofing-Integrated Photovoltaics (NREL/TP-6A20-85230)
- Residential Clean Energy Credit
- U.S. small-scale solar generation has quadrupled in the last decade (Today in Energy)