PanelCensus

Solar installations in California

2,070,309 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.

Installations
2,070,309
Total capacity
36.4 GW
Median price
$4.24/W
pre-incentive
Third-party owned
29%
lease / PPA

Most active

Top installers in California

#InstallerInstalls in CA
1Sunrun257,729
2Tesla Energy245,392
3Sunpower115,598
4Rec Commercial33,265
5Semper Solaris32,427
6Bright Ops32,019
7Freedom Forever29,306
8Verengo26,115
9Petersendean24,396
10Infinity Energy23,615
11Baker Electric Solar22,681
12Sungevity Development16,205
13Horizon Solar Power15,929
14Leonard Roofing15,477
15Esp Contracting14,733

California installer directory →

Growth

Installations by year

2005
4,100$7.27/W
2006
6,189$7.58/W
2007
10,016$8.00/W
2008
10,743$7.96/W
2009
16,099$7.64/W
2010
20,217$6.71/W
2011
27,825$6.49/W
2012
39,998$5.38/W
2013
68,869$4.98/W
2014
103,290$4.76/W
2015
153,991$4.58/W
2016
163,872$4.39/W
2017
125,265$4.05/W
2018
140,439$4.04/W
2019
157,757$3.97/W
2020
154,733$4.03/W
2021
202,883$3.98/W
2022
280,078$4.12/W
2023
302,491$4.13/W
2024
18,854$2.03/W
2025
21,677$2.00/W
2026
1,709$2.00/W

Bars: recorded installs · right column: median $/W that year.

By county

Solar by county in California

CountyInstallsCapacityMedian $/W
San Diego County330,1923.6 GW$4.17/W
Los Angeles County210,4213.7 GW$4.45/W
Riverside County184,7103.4 GW$4.25/W
San Bernardino County128,5412.2 GW$4.25/W
Orange County116,7181.1 GW$4.12/W
Fresno County92,5012.2 GW$4.12/W
Contra Costa County88,4551.1 GW$4.30/W
Santa Clara County86,654884.6 MW$4.36/W
Kern County85,5973.7 GW$4.21/W
Sacramento County73,4251.9 GW$2.03/W
Alameda County72,743638.2 MW$4.30/W
San Joaquin County56,906618.5 MW$4.29/W
Ventura County40,811485.5 MW$4.43/W
Tulare County39,2981.3 GW$4.25/W
Placer County37,794328.6 MW$4.13/W
Solano County37,027345.2 MW$4.45/W
Sonoma County31,958358.5 MW$4.55/W
San Mateo County25,662252.5 MW$4.55/W
San Luis Obispo County25,060459.1 MW$4.21/W
El Dorado County23,170197.0 MW$3.89/W
Butte County21,512265.2 MW$3.88/W
Marin County20,906206.6 MW$4.51/W
Yolo County20,123275.1 MW$4.25/W
Monterey County17,742237.1 MW$4.60/W
Santa Barbara County17,439210.6 MW$4.54/W
Madera County15,995390.1 MW$4.02/W
Merced County15,849368.0 MW$4.35/W
San Francisco County14,800210.0 MW$5.12/W
Santa Cruz County14,393124.5 MW$4.72/W
Kings County12,694783.7 MW$4.16/W
Sutter County10,260130.6 MW$4.12/W
Yuba County9,25791.6 MW$4.17/W
Napa County8,954142.4 MW$4.50/W
Tehama County7,076107.8 MW$3.95/W
Nevada County6,28254.0 MW$4.32/W
Stanislaus County5,977213.7 MW$4.33/W
Shasta County5,81664.5 MW$3.83/W
Calaveras County5,20443.3 MW$4.16/W
San Benito County5,20450.6 MW$4.45/W
Lake County4,41652.7 MW$4.30/W
Tuolumne County4,35555.1 MW$3.99/W
Amador County4,29545.0 MW$4.03/W
Humboldt County4,23535.8 MW$3.99/W
Glenn County3,60670.2 MW$4.00/W
Mendocino County3,20145.2 MW$4.09/W
Colusa County2,38372.0 MW$4.16/W
Mariposa County1,12611.9 MW$3.97/W
Mono County1,09911.3 MW$4.30/W
Imperial County788844.3 MW$3.95/W
Plumas County2782.4 MW$3.98/W
Siskiyou County2348.0 MW$3.89/W
Lassen County18419.9 MW$3.69/W
Inyo County14415.6 MW$4.89/W
Alpine County111751 kW$4.00/W
Sierra County57453 kW$4.62/W
Trinity County37693 kW$4.80/W
Modoc County32895 kW$2.81/W

Counties derived from installation ZIP codes (Census ZCTA crosswalk) — approximate at boundaries. Counties with fewer than 50 recorded installs are shown but not indexed.

Frequently asked questions

How many solar installations are there in California?

PanelCensus records 2,070,309 solar installations in California, totalling 36.4 GW of capacity — 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 $4.24/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 (257,729), followed by Tesla Energy (245,392).