Flagship tool
Solar Savings Calculator
Enter your monthly electric bill and get an honest estimate: system size, upfront cost, annual savings, and payback period — every assumption editable and documented.
The economics of
going solar, explained
GEO
STELLAR
A practical, unbiased guide to going solar — straight answers on cost, savings, financing, and whether it's worth it.
Estimate your savingsTwo pillars
Solar basics
How home solar actually works — panels, inverters, batteries, net metering, community solar, and whether it's worth it for your roof.
Explore the basics →Pillar 02Solar finance
The money side: paying for solar, the 2026 incentive landscape, payback math, home-value impact, and loan-vs-lease tradeoffs.
Explore the finance →Calculators
All tools →Solar Savings Calculator
Bill in, honest numbers out: system size, cost, savings, payback.
ToolTax Credit & Incentives Estimator
What the 2025 federal credit expiration means for your install year.
ToolPayback & ROI Calculator
Break-even year and lifetime return, with degradation and rate escalation.
ToolLoan vs. Lease vs. Cash
25-year totals and ownership tradeoffs, side by side.
ToolHome Value Impact Estimator
What an owned system adds at resale, from published research.
Latest guides
All 10 guides →When Solar Doesn't Make Financial Sense
An unsentimental list of the situations where home solar is the wrong call — roof, shade, rates, tenure, and the 2026 incentive cliff included.
Solar financeSolar Loans: What to Watch For Before You Sign
Dealer fees, teaser rates, missing-credit reamortization clauses, and UCC-1 filings — the four traps in solar financing and how to price them.
Solar financeDoes Solar Increase Home Value? What the Data Shows
Owned systems add measurable resale value — around 4% or ~$4,000/kW in the research. Leased systems can subtract it. The evidence, and the caveats.
Solar financeSolar Payback Period: How to Calculate Your Break-Even
Payback is net cost divided by honest annual savings — with degradation, rate escalation, and export haircuts included. Here's the full method.