Our solar project calculator gives customized results based on your electric bill, solar panel production, solar array size and electric rates to show you a solar array that will meet your household needs.
Here’s how we calculate your estimate.
- Your monthly electric bill. Our tool takes your monthly electric bill in dollars, and divides it by the current average price for electricity, to get the number of kilowatt-hours of electricity you need each month.
- The production of a solar panel. In our region, 1kw of solar panel array will produce roughly 1,200 kilowatt-hours of electricity each year. The average size of a solar panel in 2022 is 370 watts. If you have a $120/month electric bill and live in Central Ohio, where the average rate for electricity is $0.15 per kilowatt-hour. 120/0.15 = 800 * 12 = 9600 kilowatt-hours needed each year. 9600 kWh / 1,200kWh/yr = 8kw solar array.
- Technical sizing of a solar panels. To translate the example above of 8kw of solar into an installable solar array, our tool does some rounding based on actual solar panel systems. We use pricing pulled from average system sizes installed over the last year. Your actual results may vary. For example, if your roof is not ideally oriented, or you have shade trees in the yard, that will reduce a solar panel’s performance. Using our experience and past years’ install data, we know that 8kw solar array will be made up of roughly 22 solar panels (if your home or business offers an ideal location for solar panels).
- Your location. Our calculator is designed to give you customized results based on the specific electricity rates in Central Ohio.
Project Calculator