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Commercial Solar Calculator — California

Production and savings estimate for a commercial/C&I solar plant in California — 10 kW to 2 MW, local irradiance and tariffs.

Commercial rooftops in California pay commercial tariffs — usually higher than residential — which is why C&I solar is often the fastest-payback segment. Under NEM 3.0 California pays little for exports — the economics now hinge on self-consumption and pairing with a battery, not on feeding the grid. Defaults below reflect a typical 100 kW commercial array; scale to your roof and check the monthly table against your facility's load profile.

176,909 kWh
Estimated annual production
1,769 kWh/kWp·yr
Specific yield
82%
Performance ratio
$53,073
Annual bill value at your rate
Jan7,961 kWh
Feb10,615 kWh
Mar15,037 kWh
Apr17,691 kWh
May20,345 kWh
Jun21,229 kWh
Jul21,229 kWh
Aug18,575 kWh
Sep15,037 kWh
Oct11,499 kWh
Nov8,845 kWh
Dec8,845 kWh

With your numbers: 100 kW × 5.4 kWh/m²/day × 365 × 1.10 (plane-of-array) × 82% PR = 176,909 kWh/year. First-year figure — subtract ~0.5%/yr panel degradation for later years.

Sources: NREL PVWatts v8 model (POA irradiance × system losses); Global Solar Atlas — long-term GHI, USA — California (LA)

Indicative estimates only, not financial or investment advice. Tariffs, subsidies and net-metering rules change — verify with your DISCOM, utility or installer before committing.

Use the free Commercial Solar Calculator — California online — Production and savings estimate for a commercial/C&I solar plant in California — 10 kW to 2 MW, local irradiance and tariffs. Runs instantly in your browser: no signup, no upload, mobile-friendly.

About Commercial Solar Calculator — California

Commercial rooftops in California pay commercial tariffs — usually higher than residential — which is why C&I solar is often the fastest-payback segment. Under NEM 3.0 California pays little for exports — the economics now hinge on self-consumption and pairing with a battery, not on feeding the grid. Defaults below reflect a typical 100 kW commercial array; scale to your roof and check the monthly table against your facility's load profile.

How to use Commercial Solar Calculator — California

  1. 1Enter your system size in kW (or keep the segment-typical default).
  2. 2Fine-tune irradiance, tilt and soiling to match your site — the help text gives local reference values.
  3. 3Read annual kWh, specific yield, PR and the monthly split; set your tariff to price the energy.

Why use Commercial Solar Calculator — California?

  • ✓Region-true defaults: long-term irradiance, optimal tilt and local tariff are pre-loaded, not guessed
  • ✓PVWatts-style physics — plane-of-array gain, full loss stack and performance ratio shown transparently
  • ✓Month-by-month generation table exposes the seasonal shape, not just an annual headline
  • ✓Everything computes instantly in your browser — no signup, no quote-form ambush

Frequently asked questions

How accurate is the Commercial Solar Calculator — California?+

It uses the same physics as NREL's PVWatts: irradiance × plane-of-array factor × performance ratio. With honest inputs, expect results within ±10% of a professional simulation — good enough for sizing and payback decisions. For bankable projects, follow up with site-measured data and a full TMY simulation.

What is specific yield and what's a good value?+

Specific yield is annual kWh produced per kW of panels. It removes system size from the comparison: 1,400–1,700 kWh/kWp is typical across sunny India, 950–1,100 in Germany or the UK. If a quote promises far above the regional norm, question the assumptions.

Why is my real output lower than the calculator says?+

The usual suspects in order: more shading than assumed, dust (soiling can cost 5–15% where cleaning is irregular), inverter undersizing/clipping, and higher cell temperatures than the default loss stack assumes. Compare measured monthly output against the table here to localize the gap.

Does panel direction matter as much as size?+

Orientation typically moves output 5–25%. Equator-facing at near-latitude tilt is ideal; east/west roofs lose roughly 10–20% but spread generation across the day, which can be worth more under time-of-use tariffs or self-consumption rules.

Embed Commercial Solar Calculator — California on your website

Want Commercial Solar Calculator — Californiaon your own site? Paste this snippet into any HTML page — it's free, with no API key or sign-up. The tool loads in an iframe and keeps working exactly as it does here.

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