On average, a 5-kilowatt solar system in 2022 costs between $15,000 and $25,000 before accounting for solar tax credits and rebates. The cost of an solar panel system has an even wider range because there are a variety of sizes, applications, and components that impact the price.
For example, some very small off-grid solar kits are only able to charge a phone or tablet and can cost less than $100. Other off-grid solar systems power an entire home and can cost as much as $50,000.
Solar batteries are an integral part of off-grid solar systems, however, they can drive up the total cost. On average, a solar battery costs between $5,000 and $20,000. Depending on the size of your off-grid system and your home’s energy usage, you may need more than one solar battery.
The Tesla Powerwall is one of the best solar batteries on the market and costs $8,500 before factoring in installation costs. This battery has a capacity of 13.5 kilowatt-hours (kWh), which is almost half of the amount of electricity the average household consumes per day. With this in mind, an off-grid solar system would need two or three Tesla Powerwall batteries to completely power a home, driving the cost of solar batteries up to between $17,000 and $25,000.
To estimate how much an off-grid solar system would cost, follow these steps:
Determine how much electricity your home consumes. You can easily do this with the SaveOnEnergy.com® usage calculator.
With your home’s average electricity usage in mind, estimate how many solar batteries your off-grid system would need to cover your usage.
Estimate the cost of other solar system components. This includes the number of solar panels for your system, installation costs, and performing necessary maintenance on your roof before installing the panels.
Add the cost of solar batteries to the price of the rest of the system. Once you have the total cost, you can begin to factor in the savings from the federal solar tax credit and state solar rebates and incentives.
Off-grid vs. grid-tied solar system
If you are interested in buying a solar system for your home, one of the first decisions you will need to make is whether to connect it to the power grid or not. The majority of solar panel owners remain connected to the grid because it allows them to draw electricity from the grid when their panels are not producing enough energy and provides access to net metering programs.
However, there are some consumers who are interested in solar specifically because it could help them live separately from the power grid. Here are some of the ways that off-grid systems differ from solar systems that are connected to the grid.
