Est. net savings
$495
Example: 3,000 kWh/yr at the 16.5¢ U.S. average rate · no federal credit
Typical result:
Assumes 3%/yr rate increases, 0.5%/yr panel degradation and no federal tax credit (the 30% §25D credit ended for systems installed after Dec 31, 2025). How we calculate
Without solar
25-year utility bills
$12,375
Rates rise ~3% per year
With solar
System cost + remaining bills
$7,100
Installed cost, no federal credit
Difference
Estimated 25-year net
+$5,275
Before any state or utility incentives
Disclosure: links marked † are affiliate links — we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. It never changes our calculations. Details
Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links to Shop Solar Kits. If you purchase through our links, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. This does not affect our recommendations.
Updated October 1, 2026. The 30% federal tax credit for homeowner-owned solar ended for expenditures made after December 31, 2025. All costs and payback figures below assume no federal credit unless stated.
Most grid-tied vacation homes need about 2 to 11 solar panels (400W each). A small cabin using 800–1,400 kWh a year needs 2–3 panels, a mid-size cottage needs 4–7, and a large lake house needs 8–11. Year-round off-grid retreats can need 13–18 panels or more. Your exact number depends on three inputs: annual electricity use, peak sun hours at your location, and whether you stay grid-tied or go off-grid.
A vacation home’s electricity use depends on how often it is occupied, so there is no official national average. For context, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports that the average U.S. residential customer used 865 kWh per month in 2024, or about 10,400 kWh a year. Seasonal and weekend-only homes typically use far less. The tiers below are our illustrative estimates, not EIA data, so replace them with your own bills if you have them.
Vacation home energy tiers and panels needed (400W panels, grid-tied, 4.5 peak sun hours):
| Cabin Type | Annual kWh | Panels Needed |
|---|---|---|
| Small cabin, minimal appliances | 800–1,400 kWh | 2–3 panels |
| Mid-size cottage, central AC | 2,000–3,500 kWh | 4–7 panels |
| Large lake house, full appliances | 4,000–6,000 kWh | 8–11 panels |
| Year-round retreat | 7,000–10,000 kWh | 13–18 panels |
Off-grid systems need roughly 25% more panels than the figures above (a rule of thumb) to cover battery losses and winter shortfalls.
Chart summary: Panel count scales almost linearly with electricity use. Moving from a small cabin (2–3 panels) to a large lake house (8–11 panels) roughly quadruples system size, so measuring your real kWh use is the most valuable first step. Use our solar system size calculator to enter your appliances and location.
Peak sun hours (PSH) measure how much usable sunlight a location receives, expressed as hours of full 1,000 W/m² sunshine per day. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s PVWatts calculator gives location-specific production estimates for any U.S. address.
Use this formula:
Panels needed = Annual kWh ÷ (Panel kW × PSH × 365 × 0.85)
At 4.5 PSH, one 400W panel produces about 558 kWh per year (0.4 × 4.5 × 365 × 0.85). For a vacation home using 3,000 kWh a year (about 8.2 kWh a day):
That is about 38% more panels in the lower-sun location for the same electricity use.
Approximate annual-average peak sun hours by region (check PVWatts for your address):
| Region | Approx. Avg PSH | Example States |
|---|---|---|
| Desert Southwest | 5.5–6.5 | Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico |
| Mountain West | 4.8–5.5 | Colorado, Utah, Idaho |
| Southeast | 4.5–5.2 | Florida, Georgia, Tennessee |
| Pacific Northwest | 3.5–4.5 | Oregon, Washington |
| Northeast | 3.6–4.3 | Maine, Vermont, New York |
If your cabin is in Arizona or Nevada, you can size smaller. In Maine or Vermont, add a 20–25% buffer if you use the property in winter, because output in December is far below July.
Grid-tied solar is usually the cheaper and simpler choice, and off-grid solar makes sense when utility service is unavailable or very expensive to extend.
Grid-tied systems connect to the utility. You send surplus power to the grid and draw from it at night, so no battery is required. Your savings depend on your state’s net metering or net billing rules, and utility minimum connection charges still apply while the home sits empty.
Off-grid systems need a battery bank sized for roughly 2–3 cloudy days, plus a charge controller and inverter. Many home batteries are around 13.5 kWh, so battery cost is often a large share of the total. Before choosing off-grid, ask your utility for a written line-extension quote; long extensions can cost tens of thousands of dollars. For a full cost breakdown by state and system size, see our guide to How Much Do Solar Panels Cost in 2026?.
Hybrid systems add battery backup to a grid-tied system, which protects you during outages while keeping net metering benefits.
For DIY-ready options, see off-grid solar kits from Shop Solar Kits†, which range from small portable setups to larger cabin systems. Use our off-grid solar calculator to model battery size alongside panel count.
Published 2026 averages for installed residential solar range from about $2.58 per watt (EnergySage Marketplace, early 2026) to $3.34 per watt (SEIA/Wood Mackenzie, Q4 2025 report). Small systems cost more per watt than large ones, so a vacation home system may price above these averages.
| System Size | Panels (400W) | Cost at $2.58/W | Cost at $3.34/W |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 kW | 5 | $5,160 | $6,680 |
| 4 kW | 10 | $10,320 | $13,360 |
| 6 kW | 15 | $15,480 | $20,040 |
| 8 kW | 20 | $20,640 | $26,720 |
Chart summary: Even a modest 4 kW system lands between about $10,300 and $13,400 before incentives, and the gap between the two benchmarks grows with system size. Because the federal credit no longer applies to owned systems installed after 2025, state and utility incentives matter more. Florida offers a sales tax exemption on solar equipment, Colorado exempts residential solar from added property tax, and New York offers a state income tax credit. Confirm current terms for your state on DSIRE before you buy.
Federal credit status: Section 25D ended for expenditures made after December 31, 2025. Leased and PPA systems, and rental properties, may fall under different business-credit rules. Speak with a tax professional and see IRS Form 5695 instructions for details.
For a vacation home, solar is often worth it in high-electricity-price states and marginal in low-price states. Payback depends mostly on your local electricity rate, because every kWh your panels produce saves you that rate.
Here is a worked example. A cottage using 3,000 kWh a year needs about 6 panels (2.4 kW). At the published cost range of $2.58–$3.34 per watt, that system costs about $6,200–$8,000 before incentives. The table divides that cost by annual bill savings (3,000 kWh × state residential rate, EIA 2024 data), assuming all production is credited at the retail rate.
| State | Rate (¢/kWh) | Annual Savings | Simple Payback |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida | 14.14 | ~$424 | ~14.6–18.9 yrs |
| Arizona | 14.91 | ~$447 | ~13.8–17.9 yrs |
| U.S. average | 16.48 | ~$494 | ~12.5–16.2 yrs |
| Maine | 24.29 | ~$729 | ~8.5–11.0 yrs |
| Massachusetts | 29.35 | ~$881 | ~7.0–9.1 yrs |
| California | 31.97 | ~$959 | ~6.5–8.4 yrs* |
*California’s net billing rules pay less for exported power, so real savings can be lower.
Chart summary: Electricity prices range from about 14¢/kWh in Florida to nearly 43¢/kWh in Hawaii, a threefold spread that drives most of the difference in payback. A cabin in a high-rate state can recover its cost in under a decade, while the same system in a low-rate state may take 14–19 years.
These are simple payback figures. They exclude financing costs, panel degradation, future rate increases, and maintenance, and they assume your annual production is fully credited at the retail rate. If you rent the home on a short-term basis, higher occupancy raises your electricity use and can shorten payback. Research from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has found that homes with owned solar can sell for a price premium, but the size varies by market, so ask a local appraiser before counting on it.
Solar paired with a battery can also keep essentials running during outages from hurricanes or ice storms. Model your own numbers with our solar ROI calculator and solar payback calculator.
Panel counts use the formula above with 400W panels, an 0.85 system efficiency factor, and 4.5 peak sun hours unless stated. Cost figures multiply system size by published per-watt averages. Payback equals estimated cost divided by annual bill savings. Usage tiers are illustrative estimates. All figures are estimates; get written quotes and a PVWatts production estimate for your address.
Sources:
Direct answers for US homeowners.
Electricity rates and incentives vary — see data for your state.
Estimates only — not tax, legal or financial advice. Get at least three installer quotes and confirm incentives with your utility and a tax professional.