<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" standalone="yes"?>
<rss version="2.0" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom">
  <channel>
    <title>SolarCostData — 2026 Energy Cost, Savings &amp; Tax-Credit Calculators</title>
    <link>https://solarcostdata.com/</link>
    <description>Free 2026 energy calculators — solar payback, EV vs gas, heat-pump cost, home battery, and electricity bills — plus a plain-English guide to which federal energy tax credits actually survived for 2026.</description>
    <generator>Hugo</generator>
    <language>en-us</language>
    <lastBuildDate>Fri, 25 Sep 2026 00:43:41 +0300</lastBuildDate>
    <atom:link href="https://solarcostdata.com/index.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
    <item>
      <title>8 to 42 Years: Solar Payback Period by State</title>
      <link>https://solarcostdata.com/guides/solar-payback-by-state-2026/</link>
      <pubDate>Sat, 26 Sep 2026 10:32:01 +0300</pubDate>
      <guid>https://solarcostdata.com/guides/solar-payback-by-state-2026/</guid>
      <description>The end of the 30% federal credit didn&amp;rsquo;t change solar&amp;rsquo;s price — it changed its math. A system that effectively cost about $16,800 after the credit in 2025 now costs the full ~$24,000 in 2026, and that higher net number lands directly on your payback period. For a while, national …</description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Save 5–15% With Community Solar: How It Works and Where</title>
      <link>https://solarcostdata.com/guides/community-solar-explained/</link>
      <pubDate>Sat, 26 Sep 2026 10:27:58 +0300</pubDate>
      <guid>https://solarcostdata.com/guides/community-solar-explained/</guid>
      <description>Not everyone who wants solar can put it on a roof. You might rent. You might own a condo with no roof rights. Your roof might be shaded, small, or pointed the wrong way. Community solar exists for exactly those people — and in 2026, with rooftop solar&amp;rsquo;s economics squeezed by the end of the …</description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>6.5¢ vs 33.6¢: California Net Metering Rates Under NEM 3.0</title>
      <link>https://solarcostdata.com/guides/california-nem-3-explained-2026/</link>
      <pubDate>Sat, 26 Sep 2026 10:27:58 +0300</pubDate>
      <guid>https://solarcostdata.com/guides/california-nem-3-explained-2026/</guid>
      <description>If you&amp;rsquo;re a California homeowner pricing solar in 2026, NEM 3.0 is the rule that decides whether it pays — more than the panel brand, more than the installer, arguably more than the (now $0) federal credit. It&amp;rsquo;s widely misunderstood, so here&amp;rsquo;s what actually changed and what to do …</description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>How Much Do Solar Panels Cost in 2026? (Real Numbers, $0 Credit)</title>
      <link>https://solarcostdata.com/guides/how-much-do-solar-panels-cost-2026/</link>
      <pubDate>Fri, 25 Sep 2026 00:45:31 +0300</pubDate>
      <guid>https://solarcostdata.com/guides/how-much-do-solar-panels-cost-2026/</guid>
      <description>&amp;ldquo;How much do solar panels cost?&amp;rdquo; has a simple headline answer and a long list of asterisks. The headline: about $2.50 to $3.50 per watt in 2026, or roughly $20,000–$28,000 for the 8 kW system an average home needs, with the national range running from around $12,000 for a small system to …</description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Heat Pump vs. Gas Furnace: What Each Costs to Run in 2026</title>
      <link>https://solarcostdata.com/guides/heat-pump-vs-gas-furnace-cost-2026/</link>
      <pubDate>Fri, 25 Sep 2026 00:44:28 +0300</pubDate>
      <guid>https://solarcostdata.com/guides/heat-pump-vs-gas-furnace-cost-2026/</guid>
      <description>&amp;ldquo;Is a heat pump cheaper than gas?&amp;rdquo; has no honest one-word answer, because it depends on two prices that vary several-fold across the country. What it does have is an exact formula — the same one behind our dual-fuel switchover calculator — and once you see it, every headline claim on …</description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Solar Panel Payback Period 2026: How to Calculate It ($0 Credit)</title>
      <link>https://solarcostdata.com/guides/solar-payback-period-2026/</link>
      <pubDate>Fri, 25 Sep 2026 00:43:41 +0300</pubDate>
      <guid>https://solarcostdata.com/guides/solar-payback-period-2026/</guid>
      <description>The formula, and why it moved in 2026 The solar panel payback period is simpler than it sounds:
Payback (years) = Net system cost ÷ Annual electricity savings
Net system cost = gross price − incentives. In 2026 the federal incentive is $0, so net ≈ gross (minus any state credit or utility rebate). …</description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>EV vs. Gas in 2026: The Real Per-Mile Cost Math</title>
      <link>https://solarcostdata.com/guides/ev-vs-gas-cost-2026/</link>
      <pubDate>Fri, 25 Sep 2026 00:43:41 +0300</pubDate>
      <guid>https://solarcostdata.com/guides/ev-vs-gas-cost-2026/</guid>
      <description>The EV-versus-gas argument is usually conducted with adjectives. It is actually two divisions. An electric car&amp;rsquo;s fuel cost is its efficiency times your electricity rate; a gas car&amp;rsquo;s is the pump price divided by its mpg. Both inputs are published numbers, so the comparison can be exact — …</description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Are Solar Panels Worth It in 2026 Without the Tax Credit?</title>
      <link>https://solarcostdata.com/guides/is-solar-worth-it-2026/</link>
      <pubDate>Fri, 25 Sep 2026 00:43:41 +0300</pubDate>
      <guid>https://solarcostdata.com/guides/is-solar-worth-it-2026/</guid>
      <description>The 2026 reality, in one paragraph Before 2026, a 30% federal credit did a lot of the heavy lifting on solar payback. It&amp;rsquo;s gone for new purchases now. That doesn&amp;rsquo;t kill solar — electricity is still expensive and getting more so every year — but it means the decision rests almost entirely …</description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>What Is Net Metering? How Export Credits Work in 2026</title>
      <link>https://solarcostdata.com/guides/net-metering-explained/</link>
      <pubDate>Sat, 19 Sep 2026 15:09:17 +0300</pubDate>
      <guid>https://solarcostdata.com/guides/net-metering-explained/</guid>
      <description>How does net metering work? Your solar panels don&amp;rsquo;t produce power evenly with your usage — they overproduce midday and underproduce at night. Net metering is how that mismatch gets settled: excess power you export earns a credit, and you draw those credits down when you pull from the grid.
The …</description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Solar Loan vs. Cash in 2026: Which Really Costs Less?</title>
      <link>https://solarcostdata.com/guides/solar-loan-vs-cash-2026/</link>
      <pubDate>Sat, 19 Sep 2026 15:09:17 +0300</pubDate>
      <guid>https://solarcostdata.com/guides/solar-loan-vs-cash-2026/</guid>
      <description>The cash-versus-loan question used to have a simple answer, and it still does on paper: cash costs less over the life of the system because you pay no interest and no financing fees. But in 2026 the interesting part isn&amp;rsquo;t that headline — it&amp;rsquo;s the specific, well-hidden way solar loans are …</description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Solar Lease vs. Buy in 2026: Who Still Gets a Tax Credit?</title>
      <link>https://solarcostdata.com/guides/solar-lease-vs-buy-2026/</link>
      <pubDate>Sat, 19 Sep 2026 15:09:17 +0300</pubDate>
      <guid>https://solarcostdata.com/guides/solar-lease-vs-buy-2026/</guid>
      <description> All-cash system price ($) — the honest baseline from a quote Loan APR (%) Loan term (years) Loan dealer fee (%) — ~20% on teaser rates Lease start ($/mo) Lease escalator (%/yr) Discount rate (%/yr) — what your money would otherwise earn Pay cash (you own it)— Loan, present value (you own it)— …</description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>EV Tax Credit 2026: What Changed and What&#39;s Still Available</title>
      <link>https://solarcostdata.com/guides/ev-tax-credit-2026-status/</link>
      <pubDate>Sat, 19 Sep 2026 15:09:17 +0300</pubDate>
      <guid>https://solarcostdata.com/guides/ev-tax-credit-2026-status/</guid>
      <description>Did the EV tax credit end? For vehicle purchases, yes — completely. If you are shopping for an EV in 2026 and a pricing sheet, a dealer, or a year-old article mentions a federal tax credit, the information is stale. The 2025 law ended every federal vehicle credit — including the lease route — on the …</description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Energy Tax Credits Still Alive in 2026: The Full List</title>
      <link>https://solarcostdata.com/guides/energy-tax-credits-2026/</link>
      <pubDate>Sat, 19 Sep 2026 15:09:17 +0300</pubDate>
      <guid>https://solarcostdata.com/guides/energy-tax-credits-2026/</guid>
      <description>If you are planning a solar, EV, heat-pump or battery purchase in 2026, the tax picture changed dramatically in 2025. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed July 4, 2025, accelerated the end of nearly every consumer clean-energy credit. Most online guides — and most installer sales pitches — still …</description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Community Solar vs. Rooftop Solar in 2026: Which Wins?</title>
      <link>https://solarcostdata.com/guides/community-solar-vs-rooftop-2026/</link>
      <pubDate>Sat, 19 Sep 2026 15:09:17 +0300</pubDate>
      <guid>https://solarcostdata.com/guides/community-solar-vs-rooftop-2026/</guid>
      <description>The classic solar question — &amp;ldquo;should I put panels on my roof?&amp;rdquo; — quietly assumes you have a roof to put them on. Roughly a third of American households don&amp;rsquo;t, in any usable sense: renters, condo and apartment residents, and owners of shaded or oddly angled roofs. Community solar …</description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Best Time to Buy Solar Panels: Now or Wait? (2026)</title>
      <link>https://solarcostdata.com/guides/best-time-to-buy-solar-2026/</link>
      <pubDate>Sat, 19 Sep 2026 15:09:17 +0300</pubDate>
      <guid>https://solarcostdata.com/guides/best-time-to-buy-solar-2026/</guid>
      <description>&amp;ldquo;Should I buy solar panels now or wait?&amp;rdquo; is the most common question homeowners ask about solar in 2026, and it&amp;rsquo;s usually the wrong frame. Waiting made sense in years past when a bigger incentive might be coming or prices were dropping fast. Neither is true now, so the honest …</description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Are Solar Batteries Worth It in 2026? Cost & When They Pay Off</title>
      <link>https://solarcostdata.com/guides/solar-battery-cost-worth-it-2026/</link>
      <pubDate>Sat, 19 Sep 2026 15:09:17 +0300</pubDate>
      <guid>https://solarcostdata.com/guides/solar-battery-cost-worth-it-2026/</guid>
      <description>Batteries are where a lot of 2026 solar quotes get expensive fast, and where the &amp;ldquo;is it worth it?&amp;rdquo; answer swings the hardest depending on where you live. Unlike panels — which are worth it in most high-rate states — a battery only pays in specific conditions. Here&amp;rsquo;s how to tell …</description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>How Many Solar Panels Do I Need? The 2026 Sizing Logic</title>
      <link>https://solarcostdata.com/guides/how-many-solar-panels-do-i-need-2026/</link>
      <pubDate>Wed, 09 Sep 2026 18:47:54 +0300</pubDate>
      <guid>https://solarcostdata.com/guides/how-many-solar-panels-do-i-need-2026/</guid>
      <description>How many solar panels to power a house: the formula You don&amp;rsquo;t size a solar system by house square footage — you size it by how much electricity you use. Here&amp;rsquo;s the whole thing:
Find your annual usage. Add up 12 months of kWh from your bills (or estimate: monthly bill ÷ your rate in …</description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Tesla Powerwall 3 vs. Enphase IQ 5P vs. FranklinWH aPower 2</title>
      <link>https://solarcostdata.com/guides/tesla-powerwall-vs-enphase-vs-franklin-2026/</link>
      <pubDate>Sun, 06 Sep 2026 09:52:28 +0300</pubDate>
      <guid>https://solarcostdata.com/guides/tesla-powerwall-vs-enphase-vs-franklin-2026/</guid>
      <description>Battery comparisons online are mostly vibes with a price widget. This one is deliberately narrower: the manufacturers&amp;rsquo; own published specifications for the three systems US installers quote most — the Tesla Powerwall 3, the Enphase IQ Battery 5P, and the FranklinWH aPower 2 — plus the …</description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>SRECs Explained (2026): How to Earn Income From Your Solar Power</title>
      <link>https://solarcostdata.com/guides/srec-explained-2026/</link>
      <pubDate>Sun, 06 Sep 2026 09:52:04 +0300</pubDate>
      <guid>https://solarcostdata.com/guides/srec-explained-2026/</guid>
      <description>Of all the ways solar can pay you back, SRECs are the least understood — partly because they&amp;rsquo;re genuinely complicated, and partly because the ground has shifted a lot in the last few years. Here&amp;rsquo;s the honest 2026 version, including the states where this actually matters, roughly what a …</description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Solar Panel Types in 2026: PERC vs. TOPCon vs. HJT (Which to Buy)</title>
      <link>https://solarcostdata.com/guides/solar-panel-types-explained/</link>
      <pubDate>Sun, 06 Sep 2026 09:49:01 +0300</pubDate>
      <guid>https://solarcostdata.com/guides/solar-panel-types-explained/</guid>
      <description>If the last solar article you read framed the decision as &amp;ldquo;monocrystalline vs. polycrystalline,&amp;rdquo; it&amp;rsquo;s out of date. That was the 2019 debate. In 2026 nearly every residential panel is monocrystalline, and the meaningful differences live one level down, in the cell technology — the …</description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Do Solar Panels Increase Home Value in 2026? What the Data Says</title>
      <link>https://solarcostdata.com/guides/do-solar-panels-increase-home-value/</link>
      <pubDate>Sun, 06 Sep 2026 09:47:12 +0300</pubDate>
      <guid>https://solarcostdata.com/guides/do-solar-panels-increase-home-value/</guid>
      <description>&amp;ldquo;Solar adds value to your home&amp;rdquo; is one of those claims that&amp;rsquo;s true, widely repeated, and almost never accompanied by an actual number. Here are the numbers — including a newer one that pushes higher than the classic figure — and the fine print the sales pitches leave off.
How much …</description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>How to Claim the Solar Tax Credit (Form 5695) in 2026</title>
      <link>https://solarcostdata.com/guides/solar-tax-season-checklist-2026/</link>
      <pubDate>Sun, 06 Sep 2026 09:45:57 +0300</pubDate>
      <guid>https://solarcostdata.com/guides/solar-tax-season-checklist-2026/</guid>
      <description>If your solar panels or home battery were installed in 2025, this filing season — the return due April 15, 2026 for most calendar-year filers, per the IRS — is when the 30% federal credit actually lands. It is the last one: 2025 was the final year of the Residential Clean Energy Credit. Everything …</description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>How Long Do Solar Panels Last? Lifespan & Maintenance (2026)</title>
      <link>https://solarcostdata.com/guides/solar-panel-maintenance-lifespan/</link>
      <pubDate>Sun, 06 Sep 2026 09:43:47 +0300</pubDate>
      <guid>https://solarcostdata.com/guides/solar-panel-maintenance-lifespan/</guid>
      <description>The single fact that makes solar worth buying — even in 2026 with no federal credit for cash and loan buyers — is that the hardware outlives its own payback by a wide margin. A system that breaks even at year 12 has another decade or two of nearly-free power ahead of it. So &amp;ldquo;how long do solar …</description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Solar Panels for a 2,000 Sq Ft House: 15-22 Panels, $21K-$27K</title>
      <link>https://solarcostdata.com/blog/solar-panels-2000-sq-ft-house-cost-2026/</link>
      <pubDate>Fri, 14 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0300</pubDate>
      <guid>https://solarcostdata.com/blog/solar-panels-2000-sq-ft-house-cost-2026/</guid>
      <description>Type &amp;ldquo;solar panels for a 2,000 sq ft house&amp;rdquo; into any search box and you&amp;rsquo;ll get a tidy dollar figure back. It&amp;rsquo;s a comforting number, and it&amp;rsquo;s also close to meaningless — because the size of your house tells an installer almost nothing about how big a solar system you …</description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Cheapest vs. Priciest Electricity States and Solar Payback</title>
      <link>https://solarcostdata.com/blog/cheapest-priciest-electricity-states-2026/</link>
      <pubDate>Thu, 13 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0300</pubDate>
      <guid>https://solarcostdata.com/blog/cheapest-priciest-electricity-states-2026/</guid>
      <description>Ask most people what makes solar worth it and they&amp;rsquo;ll say sunshine. The data says otherwise. The thing that actually decides whether a 2026 solar system pays off — now that the 30% federal credit has ended — is what you pay for grid electricity, and that number varies enormously depending on …</description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Solar Cost Per Watt 2026: Quoted vs Paid — Why They Differ</title>
      <link>https://solarcostdata.com/blog/solar-panel-cost-per-watt-2026/</link>
      <pubDate>Wed, 12 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0300</pubDate>
      <guid>https://solarcostdata.com/blog/solar-panel-cost-per-watt-2026/</guid>
      <description>Cost per watt is the one number that lets you compare two solar quotes on different-sized roofs, in different states, from different installers. Take the system price, divide by the wattage, and you get a clean per-unit figure — the price of solar&amp;rsquo;s fundamental building block. (Watts measure …</description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Net Metering vs Net Billing: What the 2026 Shift Costs You</title>
      <link>https://solarcostdata.com/blog/net-metering-vs-net-billing-2026/</link>
      <pubDate>Tue, 11 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0300</pubDate>
      <guid>https://solarcostdata.com/blog/net-metering-vs-net-billing-2026/</guid>
      <description>Net metering is the quiet arrangement that made rooftop solar pencil out for two decades. Send a kilowatt-hour to the grid at noon, pull one back after dark, and the meter treats them as equal — a dollar of solar for a dollar off your bill. Net billing breaks that even trade. It pays you a wholesale …</description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Best Time of Year to Install Solar Panels: 2026 Month Guide</title>
      <link>https://solarcostdata.com/blog/best-time-of-year-to-install-solar-2026/</link>
      <pubDate>Sat, 08 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0300</pubDate>
      <guid>https://solarcostdata.com/blog/best-time-of-year-to-install-solar-2026/</guid>
      <description>If you want the shortest answer on the best time of year to install solar panels: start getting quotes in the fall, sign in early winter, and you&amp;rsquo;ll likely pay less and wait less than the neighbor who calls their installer in June. Solar has a demand cycle as predictable as air conditioners …</description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Solar Without the Tax Credit: The 2026 Cash-Buyer Math</title>
      <link>https://solarcostdata.com/blog/solar-without-incentives-cash-buyer-math-2026/</link>
      <pubDate>Thu, 06 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0300</pubDate>
      <guid>https://solarcostdata.com/blog/solar-without-incentives-cash-buyer-math-2026/</guid>
      <description>Is solar still worth it without the tax credit? That&amp;rsquo;s the real question behind every 2026 quote, because every quote you&amp;rsquo;ll get is built to look its best. Most still bake in a 30 percent federal tax credit that no longer exists for people who buy their own system — the residential §25D …</description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Is Solar Worth It in California, Massachusetts & CT in 2026?</title>
      <link>https://solarcostdata.com/blog/high-rate-states-still-win-solar-2026/</link>
      <pubDate>Tue, 04 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0300</pubDate>
      <guid>https://solarcostdata.com/blog/high-rate-states-still-win-solar-2026/</guid>
      <description>Connecticut and Massachusetts both sit in the expensive tier — 24.2¢ and 30.5¢ a kilowatt-hour, about six cents apart. Put an identical system on a roof in each and Massachusetts breaks even in about 8.3 years. Connecticut takes 17.6. Nothing about the sun, the hardware or the installed price …</description>
    </item>
  </channel>
</rss>