Solar and Battery Savings Calculator

Size an array against your own usage and see what it saves with and without storage, under NEM 3.0 and real PG&E rates. Add an EV if you have one, or are thinking about one.

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Your electricity use

The 12-month total near the bottom of a PG&E bill. Array size is matched to this.

Based on 3CE and PG&E's rates for the standard time-of-use plan (E-TOU-C), current as of March 2026. Use the rate on your own bill if you have it.

The system

Under NEM 3.0 exported power earns far less than power you use yourself, so storage changes the arithmetic more than it used to.

Electric vehicle

An EV is usually the largest load a house adds. Including one sizes the array against it and puts the charging on the night side, where only storage can serve it.

Your roof

Leave at zero to skip the roof assessment.

Savings in year one · With storage
$3,679

Array size: 6 kW (matched to your usage) · CO₂ avoided per year: 1.90 tons

The comparison

With storage (1)

  • Produced per year9,034 kWh
  • Used on site8,185 kWh
  • Exported to the grid240 kWh
  • Installed cost$43,000
  • Simple payback11.7 years
  • Savings over 25 years$201,485
  • If prices rise 3% or 7% a year$133,994 – $232,231
  • Backup run time13 hours
  • Savings in year one$3,679

Without storage

  • Produced per year9,034 kWh
  • Used on site2,710 kWh
  • Exported to the grid6,324 kWh
  • Installed cost$21,000
  • Simple payback13.7 years
  • Savings over 25 years$74,518
  • If prices rise 3% or 7% a year$52,171 – $84,697
  • Backup run time0 hours
  • Savings in year one$1,530

The 25-year figures assume electricity prices rise 6% a year and don't include replacing a battery.

What this could cost per month

What this could cost per month
Estimated monthly payment
$445.44a month
  • Illustrative APR4.49%
  • Payments120 months
  • Total repaid$53,453
  • Cost of borrowing$10,453

GoGreen Home financing is tied to a qualifying energy-efficiency upgrade — a heat pump, heat-pump water heater, induction cooking, EV charging, or solar with storage. Panel work qualifies when it supports one of those, not on its own.

These rates are illustrative, not an offer. A lender decides the rate and the term you are actually offered.

What's in this number

Production assumes 5.5 peak sun hours a day for Santa Cruz County, of which a system delivers about 75% after inverter, wiring, heat and dirt losses — about 1,500 kWh a year for each kilowatt of panels, in line with NREL's PVWatts for a south-facing roof here. Savings combine self-consumed power at your retail rate with exports credited at the NEM 3.0 avoided-cost rate, which is far below retail — which is why sizing to your own usage matters more than it used to. A battery gives back about 90% of what it stores. An EV, if you add one, is charged overnight, so only storage can serve it. The 25-year savings assume electricity prices rise 6% a year, in line with the CPUC's forecast, and are shown beside what 3% and 7% would give; they don't include replacing a battery. The federal residential clean energy credit (IRS Section 25D) expired on December 31, 2025, so no federal credit is applied to owned solar or battery figures here. Costs are planning estimates for a system you own outright — the only kind we install.

What's next?

Schedule a free solar consultation
See what qualifies for GoGreen Home financingRead more about solar and battery backup

Sunrise Electrical Contracting holds California CSLB licence #C10-1097237 (C-10, Electrical).

This is a planning number, not a substitute for a licensed electrician confirming the panel, the service and the utility feed in person.

We work in Santa Cruz County.