Free tool
Solar savings calculator for Los Angeles
Most calculators are lead-capture forms with a number attached. This one runs in your browser, asks for nothing, and shows you every assumption it used.
Step 1
Step 2
Who bills you?
Step 3
Your estimate
Your system
System size
6.6 kW
~15 panels
Saved per year
$3,484
at today's rates
Estimated cost
$36,645
solar + storage, installed
Payback
10.5 yrs
$108,000 over 25 yrs
Why the battery matters here. SCE runs NEM 3.0 net billing, which pays about $0.05 for a kilowatt-hour you export but charges up to $0.55 to buy one back at 6pm. Storing your own production instead of selling it adds roughly $1,706 a year on this bill. SGIP storage rebates may also apply in this territory.
Show the assumptions
Usage derived from $320/mo at SCE’s ~$0.36/kWh blended rate, giving 10,667 kWh a year.
Production at 5.6 peak sun hours a day with a 0.80 derate for inverter, wiring, soiling and heat losses: 10,792 kWh a year.
Self-consumption assumed at 88% of production; the remainder is exported at $0.05/kWh.
25-year figure compounds utility rates at 4.5% a year and degrades panel output 0.5% a year, net of system cost. Planning estimate only, not a quote.
Why the utility matters
Same roof, seven different answers
A 7 kW system in Woodland Hills and a 7 kW system in Simi Valley produce almost identical power. They do not produce identical savings, because the utilities value that power very differently.
SCE
$0.36
per kWh, approx
Highest rates in the service area and the toughest export credits — which is exactly why a battery pays for itself fastest here. SCE customers also fund SGIP, so storage rebates are on the table.
LADWP
$0.27
per kWh, approx
As a municipal utility, LADWP sets its own rules and still credits exports far closer to retail than NEM 3.0 does. The trade-off: LADWP customers are not eligible for SGIP battery rebates, and the permitting queue runs longer than the county's.
GWP
$0.23
per kWh, approx
Municipal rates are lower than SCE's, so payback leans on system size and self-consumption rather than export arbitrage. Glendale runs its own interconnection review.
BWP
$0.22
per kWh, approx
One of the lowest residential rates in the region, which makes right-sizing critical — an oversized array in Burbank exports power for less than it is worth to you.
PWP
$0.25
per kWh, approx
Pasadena's own net metering program remains more generous than the CPUC tariff, and the city has its own solar permitting path separate from LA County.
Azusa L&W
$0.21
per kWh, approx
A small municipal utility with low rates and a short interconnection queue. Systems here are sized tightly to household usage.
Anaheim PU
$0.21
per kWh, approx
Anaheim runs its own rebate and net metering programs independent of the CPUC, and its rates sit well below neighboring SCE territory.
About the model
What’s under the hood
We would rather you interrogate the assumptions than trust the output.
How accurate is this solar calculator?
It is a planning model, not a quote. It uses published blended utility rates, local irradiance, a standard 0.80 system derate, and typical self-consumption fractions. Real production depends on your roof pitch and azimuth, shading, your specific rate schedule, and how your usage is distributed through the day. Expect the real number to land within roughly 15% either way, and expect our written design to be much tighter than that.
Why does the estimate change so much when I switch utilities?
Because the economics of solar in Southern California are set by your utility, not by the sun. SCE charges roughly $0.36 per kilowatt-hour and credits exports at around $0.05 under NEM 3.0. LADWP charges less but credits exports near retail. Same roof, same panels, materially different return and a completely different argument for storage.
Why does adding a battery change the savings so much?
Under NEM 3.0, power you export is worth a fraction of power you use yourself. Without storage a typical home consumes only about 37% of what it generates as it is generated; the rest is exported cheaply. A battery pushes self-consumption to roughly 88%, which means far more of your production is valued at the full retail rate you would otherwise pay.
Does this include the federal tax credit?
No, and that is deliberate. The residential credit under Section 25D expired on December 31, 2025, so a system you buy outright no longer carries it. The cost figures shown are the real pre-incentive numbers. If you finance through a lease or PPA, the third-party owner may still claim the commercial credit under Section 48E and pass some of that value through in the pricing.