SolarData USA

Solar Energy in California - Installation Data & Costs

Total Installations
1,921,220
Total Capacity
17,997 MW
Average Cost
$4.46/W

Median: $4.25/W

National Rank
#1

98% residential

27.56¢
Electricity Rate (kWh)
5.8h
Peak Sun Hours/Day
6.7 yrs
Est. Payback Period
$4,388
Est. Annual Savings

Environmental & Community Impact

CO₂ Offset/Year
20,119,880 tons
CO₂ Offset/System/Year
11.3 tons
Installations per 10K Residents
488.2
State Population
39,356,104
Est. Annual Production/System
15,920 kWh

Estimates based on average system size, 5.8h peak sun hours/day, 80% derating factor, and 30% federal ITC. Sources: NREL, EIA, EPA eGRID (0.709 metric tons CO₂/MWh).

System Overview

Avg System Size
9.4 kW
Battery Adoption
4.8%
Third-Party Owned
31.0%

Cost Trend ($/W)

Avg Cost per Watt

2000200220042006200820102012201420162018202020222023

Installation Growth (Last 5 Years)

Top Solar Installers in California

InstallerInstallations
Sunrun250,132
Tesla Energy243,827
Sunpower113,696
Self42,593
Rec Commercial33,252
Semper Solaris32,276
Bright Ops32,019
Freedom Forever28,717
Verengo26,115
Petersendean24,395

Most Popular Panel Brands in California

BrandInstallations
Qcells North America287,352
SunPower261,926
LG Electronics Inc.142,010
REC Solar129,296
CSI Solar Co., Ltd.106,002
LONGi Green Energy Technology Co., Ltd.96,067
SolarWorld82,378
Trina Solar76,930
Jinko Solar Co., Ltd68,747
Kyocera Solar50,716

Solar by County - California

CountyInstallationsCapacity
San Diego282,6602,103.9 MW
Los Angeles195,3311,954 MW
Riverside181,0031,646 MW
San Bernardino121,2391,212.5 MW
Orange116,9941,013.9 MW
Santa Clara83,256690.3 MW
Kern77,995942.3 MW
Fresno77,737956.1 MW
Contra Costa73,043572.9 MW
Alameda70,340516.1 MW
San Joaquin50,792478.2 MW
Ventura39,297353.5 MW
Placer37,655301.1 MW
Tulare35,672630.4 MW
Solano33,146243 MW

California Solar Incentives

Tax credits, rebates & programs

Is Solar Worth It in California?

Data-backed analysis

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