Solar Atlas · California
Is solar worth it in San Francisco, CA?
A 7 kWdc rooftop array in San Francisco makes about 10,929 kWh a year (NLR PVWatts, modeled) and pays back in 11.8 years at Pacific Gas & Electric Co.’s 36.5¢/kWh residential rate (Aug 2025–Jul 2026), with no federal credit. Exports follow Net Billing Tariff ("NEM 3.0"), paid at hourly values not tabulated here, so that payback assumes 4.0¢/kWh; with full retail net metering it would be 5.6 years.
37.77°N · 9.4–14.6 h daylight · site signature
- Production
- 1,561 kWh per kWdc per year · capacity factor 17.8% AC
- Residential rate
- 36.5¢/kWh · Pacific Gas & Electric Co.
- Exported solar
- Net Billing Tariff ("NEM 3.0") · 4.03¢/kWh (assumption)
- Climate
- warm-summer Mediterranean (Köppen Csb) · 14.3 °C mean, 581 mm/yr
Source: NLR PVWatts v8.5.0 (NSRDB PSM V3 GOES tmy-2020 3.2.0) — 1 kW, tilt 20°, azimuth 180°, roof mount, 14% losses · fetched 2026-09-24 · modeled, not metered
Source: EIA-861M utility average · Aug 2025–Jul 2026 · EIA California average Jan–Jul 2026 33.3¢ · utility’s EIA-861 2024 average 39.6¢
2 utilities serve parts of this ZIP — pick yours (the first is the most likely by statewide customer count, which is a weak signal where a city utility sits inside a larger utility’s territory).
Pacific Gas & Electric Co. customers who buy supply from a competitive supplier or community choice aggregator pay delivery plus their supplier’s price; the average shown is the utility’s default (bundled) service.
Pacific Gas & Electric Co. added for this ZIP: The OEDI 2024 ZIP file maps most San Francisco ZIPs only to SFPUC (Hetch Hetchy Power), which EIA-861 2024 reports serving 2,618 residential customers; PG&E is the distribution utility for San Francisco homes, including CleanPowerSF (CCA) customers, and reports 1.86M bundled + 3.19M delivery residential customers.
Several utilities serve ZIP 94102 at different prices (Pacific Gas & Electric Co., City & County of San Francisco): check the one on your bill.
Source: Pacific Gas & Electric customers applying for interconnection since 2023-04-15 · checked 2026-09-24
Source: NOAA NCEI Climate Normals 1991–2020, SAN FRANCISCO DWTN, CA US (0.6 km away) · fetched 2026-09-24
No federal credit: the homeowner credit (§25D) ended for systems installed after 2025-12-31. A lease or PPA price may reflect the lessor’s §48E credit. 26 U.S.C. §25D(h) and (e)(8)(A) · policy as of 2026-09-24
Make it your answer
Start from your bill. Everything else is prefilled from this page and can be changed.
Your exact roof, or a business
The payback calculator runs hourly PVWatts at your address. The Modeler opens a grid-tied home at San Francisco. A business goes to the Quote Studio with the 36.5¢/kWh commercial rate.