Home Solar
Understand home solar costs, savings, and system options.
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Before You Go Solar - The Full 2026 Guide
Brogan Woodburn
Content Lead
Brogan's annual solar guide provides clear, reliable, and data-driven insights to help you make informed home solar purchasing decisions.
Home solar systems with battery storage can power your home and protect your budget, with payback in around 9 to 11 years.
Continue readingAre solar panels worth it?
Understand the financial case for going solar.
Buying solar panels
From choosing an installer to comparing panel brands. Your purchasing roadmap.
How long does it take for solar panels to pay for themselves?
Click any state to see local payback timelines, costs, and incentive details.
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Top solar guides
Expert-reviewed articles to help you make the best decision for your home.
How Many Solar Panels to Power a Home During an Outage?
Many homes use 15 to 25 solar panels, but outage power also requires battery storage, a grid-forming inverter, and approved islanding equipment.
How Many Solar Panels to Power a Home During an Outage?
Many homes use 15 to 25 solar panels, but outage power also requires battery storage, a grid-forming inverter, and approved islanding equipment.
Read more5 Best Portable Solar Panels to Keep Power in an Outage
The Jackery SolarSaga 200 is the best portable solar panel for power outages, with 200 W of output and one of the better output-to-weight ratios among 200W folding panels.
Best Roof for Solar Panels
Learn what roof types are best for solar panel system installations, what factors to consider when installing, and how to keep from damaging your roof.
Environmental Benefits of Solar Panels
Our guide covers the environmental benefits of solar panels, covering emissions, air quality, water use, recycling, lifecycle impacts, and tradeoffs.
How do solar panels work?
Solar panels use photovoltaic cells to turn sunlight into electricity, converting DC to AC for home use. Learn the science behind solar energy.
Go deeper on solar
Explore the technology and hands-on options.
Frequently asked questions
Quick answers to the most common solar questions.
Yes, you can run A/C on an efficient home solar panel system. If you want to use solar energy at night, you'll need a battery backup to power your home with stored energy.
A small home with a 4 kW system needs 13 panels while a mid-sized home with an 8 kW system needs 25 panels. On the high end, a 14 kW system would use 44 panels to power a large home with high electricity needs.
If your home gets at least four hours of peak sun per day on average, a solar panel system is likely to be worth it. Solar panels pay for themselves in about seven to 10 years on average.
If you use 10,000 to 12,000 kWh per year of electricity for a 2,000 sq ft home, you'll need between 19 and 25 solar panels on average. This assumes your home is a good candidate for efficient solar generation.
More energy solutions
Keep your home powered and your bills low.