Select whether you are a residential or small commercial customer. This will impact your electricity rate and the cost of your solar installation.
Selecting your Local Power Company from the dropdown (ordered alphabetically) will provide you a better solar analysis, based on your LPC’s rate structure. You can also select the “N/A – Use TN Valley Avg. Rate” option at the top of this list if you prefer the calculator to use TN Valley average rate assumptions.
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Your average monthly electric bill is used to estimate the amount of electricity (in kilowatt hours (kWh)) you use based on your Local Power Company’s (LPC) electric rates (or the Tennessee Valley average rates if no LPC is selected above). If you pay for other services on your utility bill such as gas, water, etc., only enter the electric portion of your utility bill, including your customer charge.
*do not include gas, water, or other services listed on your utility bill
The “percent solar of electricity use” indicates how much of your monthly electricity usage you desire to cover with solar generation. This value is used to determine the solar system size required to meet a percentage of your electricity use.
If you know your electricity rate in cents/kWh, please enter that here. This value is typically found on your electricity bill, but if you are unsure, we have pre-populated a TN Valley average.
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If you know the installed cost of your solar system (in $ per watt), please enter that here. This value is typically acknowledged after speaking with a solar installer and receiving a cost estimate. This price can vary based on many factors including the quality of the panels, inverter type, service costs, condition of your roof, warranty offering, etc. If you do not know this value, a pre-populated TN Valley average figure will be used, based on typical system costs and optimal roofing conditions.
In most cases, a portion of your electric bill is fixed regardless of how much electricity you use per month. This allows your local power company to pay for its fixed costs to operate and supply power to your area’s homes/businesses. If you know how much of your electric bill is fixed, please enter that here, otherwise a TN Valley average will be used.
Click on the “Advanced Options” button if you already know some specific information regarding your solar installation. The more information you enter for your unique specifications, the more accurate your estimates will be.