How much do solar panels cost in your state? What installation records show

Price per watt is the number to compare

Solar quotes are easiest to compare as dollars per watt: the total installed price divided by the system's size in watts of panel (DC) capacity. A $30,000 quote for a 7.5 kW system is $4.00/W. Comparing totals alone is misleading, because one installer may be quoting a 6 kW system and another a 9 kW system.

The figures on this page are installed prices before incentives, as reported by installers or customers to the state agencies and utilities that run incentive, interconnection and renewable-energy-credit programs. That is the same basis Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory uses in its Tracking the Sun reports, which are built from those program records.

What recorded home systems cost, state by state

Median installed prices for residential systems installed in 2023, from PanelCensus records (states with at least 1,000 priced residential systems that year):

• New York: $3.90/W, median system 8.28 kW, median price $34,104 (13,827 priced systems)
• Wisconsin: $3.92/W, 8.10 kW, $31,842 (2,756)
• Massachusetts: $3.93/W, 9.48 kW, $37,786 (4,160)
• Connecticut: $3.93/W, 8.35 kW, $32,105 (2,177)
• Texas: $4.08/W, 8.91 kW, $37,454 (17,401)
• Minnesota: $4.14/W, 8.00 kW, $33,258 (3,104)
• Arizona: $4.18/W, 8.40 kW, $35,343 (31,463)
• California: $4.19/W, 6.80 kW, $27,873 (254,621)
• Maryland: $4.30/W, 9.62 kW, $40,920 (5,555)
• Florida: $4.48/W, 10.53 kW, $48,385 (3,637)
• Colorado: $4.49/W, 6.40 kW, $28,395 (18,113)
• New Mexico: $4.73/W, 6.80 kW, $31,717 (4,356)
• Utah: $5.31/W, 7.40 kW, $40,500 (3,445)

Each column is its own median, so the median price is not exactly the median $/W times the median size. Berkeley Lab's own 2024 analysis of systems installed in 2023 found state medians for residential systems ranging from $3.2 to $5.2/W, a similar spread.

Colorado and Connecticut in more detail

Colorado. The median price across all priced Colorado records was $4.45/W in 2023 (18,553 systems) and $4.13/W in 2024 (3,858 systems); residential systems alone were $4.34/W in 2024 with a median size of 6.0 kW. Colorado home systems are smaller than in most states, which is why the total price is lower even though the per-watt price is near the top of the list. See the Colorado solar page for county figures and the Colorado installer directory for who does the work.

Connecticut. Connecticut reports recent years more completely. Its median was $3.91/W in 2023, $3.87/W in 2024 and $3.76/W in 2025 (2,762 priced systems), with residential systems around 8–9 kW. See the Connecticut solar page and the Connecticut installer directory.

Why your quote can be higher or lower than the median

Berkeley Lab's regression analysis of host-owned home systems installed in 2023 isolated the factors that move price the most:

• Adding a battery raised prices by about $1.4/W.
• Larger systems cost less per watt: moving from a small (20th percentile) to a large (80th percentile) system cut about $0.7/W.
• New construction was about $0.7/W cheaper than retrofitting an existing home.
• DC optimizers and ground mounting each added about $0.4/W.
• The installer matters: among the 100 largest residential installers in 2023, company-level medians ranged from $2.6 to $5.9/W.

The same report notes that loan-financed systems often carry dealer fees inside the reported price, adding 5–50% to the up-front amount, and that Tracking the Sun medians run higher than many other price benchmarks for that reason. A quote below the median is not automatically a better deal, and one above it is not automatically a bad one; compare like-for-like system size, equipment and financing.

Leases, PPAs and the federal tax credit

With a lease or power purchase agreement (PPA), a solar company owns the system on your roof and you pay for its output or a monthly fee, so there is no up-front price to compare per watt. Prices reported for third-party-owned systems are sometimes appraised values rather than what anyone paid, which is why Berkeley Lab's price analysis uses only host-owned systems. Third-party ownership is common in some states: in PanelCensus records it covers about 60% of Connecticut installations and about 27% of Colorado's. The third-party ownership ranking shows every state.

For homeowners who buy, the federal Residential Clean Energy Credit was 30% of the cost of qualified solar property, but according to the IRS it is not available for property placed in service after December 31, 2025. Any price comparison with older quotes or calculators that subtract a 30% federal credit should account for that. State and utility incentives vary and change; check your state energy office and utility directly.

How to use the state pages

1. Open your state from the solar by state index to see its recorded installation count, median system size, median price per watt and installs by year.
2. Drill into your county to see local volume and the installers most active there.
3. Open the price trends ranking to compare your state's median with the national series over time.
4. Divide any quote you receive by its system size in watts and compare it with your state's recent median.

All prices are nominal (not adjusted for inflation) and pre-incentive. States without an installation-level reporting program have few or no priced records, so their figures are thinner or missing.