What is a solar panel payback period?
The solar panel payback period is the time it takes for the utility bill savings generated by your solar system to equal the initial net cost of installation. Homeowners invest in solar to lower their electric bills, and this calculator estimates when that investment turns into pure financial savings.
Calculating payback requires subtracting federal, state, and utility incentives from the gross system cost to find your net investment, and then projecting year-by-year utility bill savings while accounting for annual rate inflation.