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Colorado, United States

1.29TWh
every year, from one 325-watt panel on each of 2,556,664 buildings.

What that is equal to

🏠 123 thousand
homes powered for a year
at the US average of 10,500 kWh per household
🌍 479 thousand t
CO₂ avoided annually
displacing grid power at 0.371 kg CO₂e/kWh (EPA eGRID)
🚗 104 thousand
cars taken off the road
an average passenger vehicle emits 4.6 t CO₂e a year
⚡ 3.69 billion
electric vehicle miles
at roughly 0.35 kWh per mile

The pay-off

It pays for itself here. A panel on this roof delivers electricity at 7.6¢ a kWh against a local price of 16.2¢ — 53% cheaper than local power. The install is repaid after 11.3 years, inside the panel's 25-year life.
7.6¢ vs 16.2¢
cost per kWh: this panel vs the grid
levelised over 25 years including 0.5%/yr degradation
$2.3 billion
to fit every building here
2,556,664 panels at $900 installed each
11.3 years
to break even
saving $209 million a year area-wide at today's price

Assumes $900 to install one 325 W panel — hardware, mounting, microinverter, electrical work, labour and permitting — repaid only by the electricity it avoids buying. No subsidies, tax credits, net-metering premium, financing cost or future price rises are counted, and the figure is undiscounted. Electricity price is the CO residential average (EIA, May 2026). A single panel is unusually expensive per watt because it carries a whole array's fixed costs, which is why these numbers look worse than rooftop solar generally does.

How this is calculated

Buildings with roofs2,556,664
×  Panel rating325 W
×  Annual yield per panel here504.8 kWh
Annual generation1,290,599,775 kWh
Assumptions and limitations
  • Yield is specific to this location: 504.8 kWh per panel per year, from NASA POWER climatology transposed onto a tilted roof plane. The same panel makes roughly 596 kWh in Phoenix and 265 kWh in Anchorage.
  • Assumes a south-facing roof at a typical residential pitch, with a ~22% total system loss for soiling, shading, wiring, inverter, and heat.
  • Counts every above-ground structure with a footprint of at least 20 m², so garages and outbuildings are excluded but barns and sheds of real size are not. Building data is machine-derived and imperfect.
  • No account is taken of roof orientation, obstructions, structural condition, or whether the owner wants a panel.

Counties in Colorado

El Paso County · 150 GWhDenver County · 120 GWhJefferson County · 101 GWhArapahoe County · 103 GWhAdams County · 92.2 GWhLarimer County · 80.3 GWhWeld County · 74.1 GWhDouglas County · 70.6 GWhBoulder County · 63.1 GWhMesa County · 47.4 GWhPueblo County · 46.6 GWhLa Plata County · 19.8 GWhMontrose County · 15.9 GWhFremont County · 15.8 GWhGarfield County · 15 GWhDelta County · 14 GWhMontezuma County · 14 GWhBroomfield County · 12 GWhEagle County · 11.9 GWhElbert County · 11.5 GWhPark County · 10.4 GWhChaffee County · 10.4 GWhMorgan County · 9.89 GWhGrand County · 9.11 GWhLogan County · 9.34 GWhRoutt County · 8.96 GWhTeller County · 9.65 GWhSummit County · 9 GWhGunnison County · 7.92 GWhOtero County · 7.83 GWhLas Animas County · 7.42 GWhYuma County · 6.4 GWhArchuleta County · 6.68 GWhRio Grande County · 6.18 GWhMoffat County · 5.49 GWhPitkin County · 5.23 GWhAlamosa County · 5.48 GWhProwers County · 5.34 GWhHuerfano County · 4.67 GWhKit Carson County · 4.34 GWhWashington County · 4.22 GWhCuster County · 4.18 GWhConejos County · 4.17 GWhSaguache County · 3.84 GWhClear Creek County · 3.62 GWhRio Blanco County · 3.69 GWhSan Miguel County · 3.26 GWhLincoln County · 3.25 GWhLake County · 2.96 GWhGilpin County · 2.82 GWhPhillips County · 2.79 GWhOuray County · 2.66 GWhBent County · 2.51 GWhBaca County · 2.44 GWhSedgwick County · 2.04 GWhCostilla County · 2.14 GWhCheyenne County · 1.83 GWhCrowley County · 1.81 GWhDolores County · 1.84 GWhJackson County · 1.62 GWhKiowa County · 1.38 GWhHinsdale County · 1.21 GWhMineral County · 1.24 GWhSan Juan County · 485 MWh

Metro areas in Colorado

Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO · 528 GWhColorado Springs, CO · 160 GWhFort Collins, CO · 80.3 GWhGreeley, CO · 74.1 GWhBoulder, CO · 63.1 GWhGrand Junction, CO · 47.4 GWhPueblo, CO · 46.6 GWhGlenwood Springs, CO · 20.2 GWhDurango, CO · 19.8 GWhMontrose, CO · 18.6 GWhCañon City, CO · 15.8 GWhEdwards, CO · 11.9 GWhFort Morgan, CO · 9.89 GWhSterling, CO · 9.34 GWhSteamboat Springs, CO · 8.96 GWhBreckenridge, CO · 9 GWhCraig, CO · 5.49 GWh

Places like Colorado

South Carolina · 1.29 TWhKentucky · 1.1 TWhMassachusetts · 1.02 TWhOklahoma · 1.16 TWhLouisiana · 1.11 TWhMaryland · 968 GWh