PanelCensus

Solar installations in California

1,921,220 recorded installations — prices, growth by year, county breakdown and the installers doing the work.

Dataset updated . Refreshed from LBNL's Tracking the Sun public releases.

Installations
1,921,220
Total capacity
18.0 GW
Median price
$4.25/W
pre-incentive
Third-party owned
31%
lease / PPA

Most active

Top installers in California

#InstallerInstalls in CA
1Sunrun250,132
2Tesla Energy243,827
3Sunpower113,696
4Rec Commercial33,252
5Semper Solaris32,276
6Bright Ops32,019
7Freedom Forever28,717
8Verengo26,115
9Petersendean24,395
10Infinity Energy22,748
11Baker Electric Solar22,599
12Sungevity Development16,205
13Horizon Solar Power15,907
14Leonard Roofing15,477
15Esp Contracting14,718

California installer directory →

Growth

Installations by year

2005
3,964$7.28/W
2006
6,023$7.59/W
2007
9,746$8.01/W
2008
10,364$7.97/W
2009
15,906$7.64/W
2010
19,903$6.71/W
2011
27,186$6.49/W
2012
39,116$5.38/W
2013
67,916$4.98/W
2014
102,291$4.77/W
2015
152,922$4.58/W
2016
162,804$4.39/W
2017
124,105$4.05/W
2018
135,315$4.04/W
2019
151,446$3.98/W
2020
150,472$4.04/W
2021
184,991$4.05/W
2022
262,302$4.19/W
2023
283,749$4.18/W
2024
84$5.70/W

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

By county

Solar by county in California

CountyInstallsCapacityMedian $/W
San Diego County294,5502.2 GW$4.18/W
Los Angeles County201,1592.0 GW$4.50/W
Riverside County181,0061.6 GW$4.25/W
San Bernardino County127,9521.3 GW$4.25/W
Orange County116,1511.0 GW$4.12/W
Fresno County91,7191.0 GW$4.13/W
Contra Costa County86,930670.9 MW$4.31/W
Kern County84,9461.0 GW$4.22/W
Santa Clara County84,629706.3 MW$4.36/W
Alameda County72,224547.1 MW$4.31/W
San Joaquin County56,592530.8 MW$4.29/W
Ventura County40,617370.7 MW$4.44/W
Tulare County38,954679.9 MW$4.25/W
Placer County37,664301.9 MW$4.13/W
Solano County36,832272.6 MW$4.45/W
Sonoma County30,358278.3 MW$4.55/W
San Mateo County25,439214.4 MW$4.55/W
San Luis Obispo County24,867194.5 MW$4.22/W
El Dorado County23,105182.8 MW$3.89/W
Butte County21,253214.3 MW$3.88/W
Yolo County19,916202.7 MW$4.25/W
Marin County18,518144.3 MW$4.74/W
Monterey County17,519171.6 MW$4.63/W
Santa Barbara County17,307152.8 MW$4.54/W
Madera County15,846236.6 MW$4.04/W
Merced County15,634234.1 MW$4.37/W
Santa Cruz County14,292104.9 MW$4.73/W
San Francisco County12,89577.2 MW$5.47/W
Kings County12,519220.4 MW$4.17/W
Sutter County10,171111.0 MW$4.13/W
Yuba County9,20178.5 MW$4.18/W
Napa County8,774104.6 MW$4.52/W
Tehama County6,97679.3 MW$3.96/W
Nevada County6,24351.0 MW$4.33/W
Stanislaus County5,89179.5 MW$4.35/W
Shasta County5,76961.0 MW$3.84/W
Calaveras County5,18842.4 MW$4.17/W
San Benito County5,18243.2 MW$4.46/W
Lake County4,38547.2 MW$4.30/W
Tuolumne County4,33943.7 MW$3.99/W
Amador County4,26938.4 MW$4.03/W
Humboldt County4,20932.2 MW$3.99/W
Glenn County3,49453.3 MW$4.00/W
Mendocino County3,13634.5 MW$4.10/W
Colusa County2,27950.4 MW$4.21/W
Mariposa County1,12211.1 MW$3.97/W
Mono County1,0879.5 MW$4.30/W
Imperial County73812.5 MW$3.95/W
Sacramento County4817.4 MW$4.31/W
Plumas County2731.9 MW$4.00/W
Siskiyou County2348.0 MW$3.89/W
Lassen County1703.4 MW$3.72/W
Inyo County1385.1 MW$4.90/W
Alpine County111751 kW$4.00/W
Sierra County56417 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?

LBNL's Tracking the Sun dataset records 1,921,220 residential and small-commercial solar installations in California, totalling 18.0 GW of capacity. (Coverage depends on the state's reporting programs, 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 (250,132), followed by Tesla Energy (243,827).