Savings and payback
See your solar savings and the system size needed for full offset at a 1000 kWh a month usage level, a common mid-range benchmark.
How it works
Step 1
1000 kWh a month is pre-filled as a common mid-range benchmark; adjust it if your actual usage differs.
Step 2
See both the full-offset sizing and, if you enter a planned system, exactly how much of your bill that specific system would cover. Compare against the 2000 kWh a month calculator to see how sizing scales with usage, or the 500 kWh a month calculator for a lower-usage benchmark.
For full offset at 1000 kWh a month, roughly 12,000 kWh a year, you'd need a system around 8.2 kW under typical sun and derate assumptions, notably smaller than the 16.4 kW needed at the 2000 kWh a month usage level. That's a more accessible size for many roofs and budgets. Utility rates drive the whole savings calculation, and the US Energy Information Administration's electricity data track them state by state.
A standard 6.5 kW system producing 9,490 kWh a year would offset about 79% of a 1000 kWh a month home's usage, leaving a remaining bill of roughly $402 a year at $0.16 per kWh, closer to full coverage than at higher usage levels, though still short of the full offset shown in the bill offset percentage calculator. The US Department of Energy's homeowner's guide to going solar walks through the same decision step by step.
It's on the higher side of average for a US household, which typically runs 800 to 1000 kWh a month depending on home size, climate, and appliances. It's a reasonable benchmark for a mid-size home without major electric loads like EV charging, which would push usage meaningfully higher. To size the array behind this number, the system size by monthly kwh usage turns your usage into a kilowatt target.
Roughly proportionally, since production scales with system size under the same sun and derate assumptions. Rebates shorten payback a lot. The sales tax exemption savings calculator in our Rebates & Incentives section estimates what you can claim for your state before you lock in a payback figure.
Questions
For full offset at 1000 kWh a month, roughly 12,000 kWh a year, you'd need a system around 8.2 kW under typical sun and derate assumptions, notably smaller than the 16.4 kW needed at 2000 kWh a month.
A standard 6.5 kW system producing 9,490 kWh a year would offset about 79% of a 1000 kWh a month home's usage, leaving a remaining bill of roughly $402 a year at $0.16 per kWh, closer to full coverage than at higher usage levels.
It's on the higher side of average for a US household, which typically runs 800 to 1000 kWh a month depending on home size, climate, and appliances. It's a reasonable benchmark for a mid-size home without major electric loads like EV charging.
Roughly proportionally, since production scales with system size under the same sun and derate assumptions. Doubling usage from 1000 to 2000 kWh a month roughly doubles the system size needed for full offset, from about 8.2 kW to 16.4 kW.
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