PanelCensus

Solar installations in California

2,413,296 recorded installations — prices, growth by year, county breakdown and the installers doing the work.

Dataset updated . Sources: LBNL Tracking the Sun + city permit records + state programs + USGS/EIA utility-scale.

Homes with solar
16.6%
of 14,532,683 homes
Installations
2,413,296
Total capacity
40.5 GW
Median price
$4.25/W
pre-incentive
Third-party owned
29%
lease / PPA

Most active

Top installers in California

#InstallerInstalls in CA
1Sunrun355,450
2Tesla261,942
3Sunpower135,519
4Freedom Forever39,986
5Semper Solaris37,094
6Bright Ops36,343
7Sungevity32,167
8Infinity Energy26,352
9Verengo26,134
10Petersendean26,037
11Baker Electric Solar25,469
12Citadel Roofing And Solar17,853
13V3 Electric17,707
14Leonard Roofing17,264
15Sunnova Energy16,916

California installer directory →

Growth

Installations by year

YearNewCumulative% homes
2005
4,128
14,9490.10%
2006
6,243
21,1920.15%
2007
10,152
31,3440.22%
2008
10,764
42,1080.29%
2009
16,147
58,2550.40%
2010
20,255
78,5100.54%
2011
27,871
106,3810.73%
2012
40,155
146,5361.01%
2013
69,107
215,6431.48%
2014
103,350
318,9932.19%
2015
156,245
475,2383.27%
2016
164,791
640,0294.40%
2017
126,055
766,0845.27%
2018
140,820
906,9046.24%
2019
159,138
1,066,0427.33%
2020
156,701
1,222,7438.41%
2021
205,015
1,427,7589.82%
2022
282,099
1,709,85711.77%
2023
304,744
2,014,60113.86%
2024
186,873
2,201,47415.15%
2025
181,672
2,383,14616.40%
2026
1,709
2,384,85516.41%

New installs per year and the running cumulative total, plus % of homes with solar (ACS housing units).

By county

Solar by county in California

CountyInstalls% homesCapacityMedian $/W
San Diego County365,82129.5%3.9 GW$4.22/W
Los Angeles County245,7226.8%4.1 GW$4.46/W
Riverside County219,27625.5%3.7 GW$4.25/W
San Bernardino County154,45420.9%2.5 GW$4.25/W
Orange County135,49711.9%1.4 GW$4.15/W
Fresno County109,54232.0%2.5 GW$4.15/W
Contra Costa County103,56924.3%1.2 GW$4.36/W
Santa Clara County102,75914.8%1.1 GW$4.41/W
Kern County102,18433.6%4.0 GW$4.22/W
Alameda County84,94713.5%784.4 MW$4.36/W
Sacramento County73,50212.4%1.9 GW$2.03/W
San Joaquin County69,14426.9%761.5 MW$4.27/W
Tulare County48,69431.9%1.4 GW$4.25/W
Ventura County47,97116.3%581.5 MW$4.44/W
Placer County44,64725.3%384.7 MW$4.11/W
Solano County44,02326.9%426.6 MW$4.46/W
Sonoma County38,05818.4%427.6 MW$4.62/W
San Mateo County31,27811.0%310.4 MW$4.65/W
San Luis Obispo County30,12324.1%516.3 MW$4.25/W
El Dorado County27,20828.9%234.6 MW$3.94/W
Butte County25,03327.5%306.2 MW$3.89/W
Marin County24,32421.7%238.4 MW$4.62/W
Yolo County23,51828.8%326.7 MW$4.25/W
Monterey County21,51314.9%297.4 MW$4.66/W
Santa Barbara County20,85213.1%258.4 MW$4.61/W
Madera County20,83341.4%472.7 MW$4.05/W
Merced County19,15121.4%442.8 MW$4.37/W
Santa Cruz County17,34216.3%150.3 MW$4.81/W
San Francisco County16,3074.0%224.9 MW$5.15/W
Kings County15,94634.1%853.5 MW$4.17/W
Sutter County11,74033.9%148.2 MW$4.15/W
Yuba County11,46938.1%115.1 MW$4.16/W
Napa County10,73119.3%170.5 MW$4.53/W
Tehama County8,19729.9%124.5 MW$4.01/W
Nevada County7,61314.1%66.8 MW$4.41/W
Stanislaus County7,2043.9%234.7 MW$4.35/W
Shasta County6,8098.5%77.4 MW$3.90/W
Calaveras County6,42123.3%51.2 MW$4.25/W
San Benito County6,30430.1%58.2 MW$4.35/W
Tuolumne County5,77418.3%64.7 MW$4.15/W
Lake County5,45115.9%61.8 MW$4.44/W
Amador County5,30028.0%56.0 MW$4.12/W
Humboldt County5,1918.3%43.0 MW$4.00/W
Glenn County4,08637.2%81.9 MW$4.00/W
Mendocino County3,7169.0%51.4 MW$4.14/W
Colusa County2,72933.5%87.5 MW$4.24/W
Mariposa County1,42614.6%13.8 MW$4.03/W
Mono County1,3469.9%14.0 MW$4.43/W
Imperial County7931.4%844.4 MW$3.95/W
Plumas County3772.5%3.8 MW$4.04/W
Siskiyou County2341.0%8.0 MW$3.89/W
Lassen County2311.9%20.6 MW$3.70/W
Alpine County15910.0%952 kW$4.30/W
Inyo County1591.7%15.9 MW$4.86/W
Sierra County673.2%549 kW$4.54/W
Trinity County520.64%772 kW$5.07/W
Modoc County320.67%895 kW$2.81/W
Del Norte Countylimited90.08%413 kW$5.16/W

Counties derived from installation ZIP codes (Census ZCTA crosswalk) — approximate at boundaries. Counties marked limited have under 10 recorded installs, so their medians and penetration are indicative only. % homes = recorded installs ÷ housing units (U.S. Census ACS 5-Year, B25001).

Search every recorded California installation — by installer, size, date, storage and equipment.

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Hardware

Top solar equipment in California

#Panel manufacturerSystems
1SunPower4,783
2CSI Solar Co., Ltd.3,010
3Trina Solar2,306
4Qcells North America2,159
5LG Electronics Inc.2,136
6REC Solar1,959
7Hanwha Q CELLS1,808
8REC1,714
#Inverter manufacturerSystems
1SMA America15,979
2SolarEdge Technologies Ltd.9,498
3Chint Power Systems America4,897
4Yaskawa Solectria Solar3,366
5SolarEdge Technologies2,552
6Enphase Energy Inc.1,653

From recorded equipment on California systems (Tracking the Sun + state/permit data); counts are systems where the manufacturer is known.

Developers

Top solar developers in California

#DeveloperSystems
1SUNRUN INSTALLATION SERVICES INC2,795
2BELL BROTHER'S HEATING AND AIR INC2,632
3Sunrun2,610
4BONNEY PLUMBING LLC2,248
5TO BE DETERMINED1,588
6SUNPOWER CORPORATION SYSTEMS1,555
7SOLARCITY CORPORATION1,404
8Baker Electric Home Energy1,271

Developer/EPC named on the permit or program record — often the same firm as the installer.

Frequently asked questions

How many solar installations are there in California?

PanelCensus records 2,413,296 solar installations in California, totalling 40.5 GW of capacity — about 16.6% of the state's 14,532,683 housing units (U.S. Census ACS) — compiled from LBNL's Tracking the Sun, city permit records, state programs and USGS/EIA utility-scale data. (Coverage depends on what the state publishes, so actual totals are higher.)

How much does solar cost per watt in California?

The median installed price across priced systems in California is $4.25/W pre-incentive. Year-by-year medians are shown on this page.

Who are the biggest solar installers in California?

Sunrun has the most recorded installations in California (355,450), followed by Tesla (261,942).