SmallSolar

What would a panel on your balcony actually save?

Seven questions, about a minute. At the end you get a dollar figure a year, the working behind it, and one specific kit — or, if your place isn't suited to this, a straight answer saying so.

We ask about your balcony rather than your roof, because if you had a roof you wouldn't be here.

Question 1 of 7

14%

Where would it go?

Why we ask: The surface it sits on decides how it can be angled, and angle is worth more than an extra panel.

Where would it go?

No email needed. We ask at the end, and only if you want the result sent to you.

What this model assumes
  • Sunlight: NREL PVWatts figures for Orange County, roughly 1,586 kWh per kilowatt of panel per year at optimal tilt. Other California regions vary by about ±10 percent.
  • Direction: south 1.00, west 0.83, east 0.80, north 0.35. These are annual production ratios at a fixed vertical or low tilt.
  • Mounting: optimally tilted 1.00, flat 0.88, vertical on a railing 0.62.
  • Shade: wide open 1.00, partly blocked 0.75, mostly blocked 0.45.
  • Share used at home: someone home most days 0.75; sometimes 0.62; rarely 0.45; business 0.90. Adjusted slightly by bill size, capped at 0.92.
  • Value of a kilowatt-hour: 33.2 cents, SCE's average residential rate including the California Climate Credit as of 1 June 2026. SDG&E and PG&E customers get their own figure on the utility pages.
  • Value of exported power: zero. SB 868 does not provide export compensation.
  • Degradation: we ignore it in year one; panels typically lose about 0.5 percent of output a year.
  • What we don't model: weather in any particular year, dust on the panel, inverter clipping on the brightest days, or a rate change.

The full methodology →