As of 2026, the average cost of residential solar panels in the U. This typically translates to about $2. 50 per watt of installed capacity (more on price per watt below). The federal 30 % Section 25D tax credit ended on 2025-12-31 — 2026 buyers do not receive the. The all-in-one U. solar calculator — enter your ZIP code and electricity bill, and it returns your recommended system size in kW, the number of panels, the roof area you need, the gross install cost, the annual savings, the payback period, the 25-year lifetime profit, and the CO₂ offset. Panels can cost as low as $1,890 and as high as $13,600. Data source: IRENA (2025); Nemet (2009); Farmer and Lafond (2016) – Learn more about this data Note: Costs are expressed in constant 2024 US$ per watt.