Search another area
State · United States

Pennsylvania, United States

2.31TWh
every year, from one 325-watt panel on each of 6,008,751 buildings.

What that is equal to

🏠 220 thousand
homes powered for a year
at the US average of 10,500 kWh per household
🌍 857 thousand t
CO₂ avoided annually
displacing grid power at 0.371 kg CO₂e/kWh (EPA eGRID)
🚗 186 thousand
cars taken off the road
an average passenger vehicle emits 4.6 t CO₂e a year
⚡ 6.6 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 9.9¢ a kWh against a local price of 21.6¢ — 54% cheaper than local power. The install is repaid after 11.1 years, inside the panel's 25-year life.
9.9¢ vs 21.6¢
cost per kWh: this panel vs the grid
levelised over 25 years including 0.5%/yr degradation
$5.41 billion
to fit every building here
6,008,751 panels at $900 installed each
11.1 years
to break even
saving $498 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 PA 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 roofs6,008,751
×  Panel rating325 W
×  Annual yield per panel here384.5 kWh
Annual generation2,310,396,146 kWh
Assumptions and limitations
  • Yield is specific to this location: 384.5 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 Pennsylvania

Allegheny County · 201 GWhPhiladelphia County · 210 GWhMontgomery County · 107 GWhBucks County · 95.3 GWhLancaster County · 87.1 GWhChester County · 93 GWhYork County · 85.5 GWhWestmoreland County · 75.1 GWhLehigh County · 70.4 GWhBerks County · 65.3 GWhDelaware County · 65.9 GWhLuzerne County · 56 GWhErie County · 50.2 GWhNorthampton County · 49.2 GWhWashington County · 45.3 GWhDauphin County · 44.6 GWhButler County · 38.7 GWhCumberland County · 39.7 GWhLackawanna County · 36.5 GWhBeaver County · 36.9 GWhCentre County · 33.7 GWhMonroe County · 31.3 GWhFayette County · 31.9 GWhFranklin County · 33.4 GWhCambria County · 29.6 GWhSchuylkill County · 29.8 GWhMercer County · 25.3 GWhLycoming County · 25.3 GWhLebanon County · 26.4 GWhBlair County · 24.5 GWhCrawford County · 21.4 GWhAdams County · 23.6 GWhLawrence County · 20.5 GWhSomerset County · 20.6 GWhIndiana County · 20.1 GWhClearfield County · 19 GWhBradford County · 18.7 GWhNorthumberland County · 19.6 GWhArmstrong County · 18.4 GWhWayne County · 17.1 GWhColumbia County · 15.8 GWhCarbon County · 16.1 GWhBedford County · 15.5 GWhPike County · 14.3 GWhSusquehanna County · 13.5 GWhVenango County · 13 GWhJefferson County · 12.6 GWhTioga County · 12.7 GWhHuntingdon County · 12.2 GWhWarren County · 11.1 GWhMcKean County · 11 GWhPerry County · 11.6 GWhMifflin County · 11.4 GWhClarion County · 10.4 GWhGreene County · 10.4 GWhSnyder County · 10.1 GWhClinton County · 9.49 GWhElk County · 8.89 GWhUnion County · 8.96 GWhWyoming County · 7.15 GWhJuniata County · 7.35 GWhPotter County · 6.81 GWhFulton County · 5.45 GWhMontour County · 4.58 GWhSullivan County · 3.21 GWhForest County · 2.72 GWhCameron County · 1.58 GWh

Metro areas in Pennsylvania

New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA · 1.82 TWhPhiladelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD · 856 GWhPittsburgh, PA · 447 GWhAllentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ · 155 GWhYoungstown-Warren-Boardman, OH-PA · 119 GWhScranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA · 99.6 GWhHarrisburg-Carlisle, PA · 96 GWhLancaster, PA · 87.1 GWhYork-Hanover, PA · 85.5 GWhReading, PA · 65.3 GWhErie, PA · 50.2 GWhState College, PA · 33.7 GWhEast Stroudsburg, PA · 31.3 GWhChambersburg-Waynesboro, PA · 33.4 GWhJohnstown, PA · 29.6 GWhPottsville, PA · 29.8 GWhWilliamsport, PA · 25.3 GWhLebanon, PA · 26.4 GWhAltoona, PA · 24.5 GWhMeadville, PA · 21.4 GWhGettysburg, PA · 23.6 GWhBloomsburg-Berwick, PA · 20.3 GWhNew Castle, PA · 20.5 GWhSomerset, PA · 20.6 GWhIndiana, PA · 20.1 GWhDuBois, PA · 19 GWhSayre, PA · 18.7 GWhSunbury, PA · 19.6 GWhOil City, PA · 13 GWhHuntingdon, PA · 12.2 GWhWarren, PA · 11.1 GWhBradford, PA · 11 GWhLewistown, PA · 11.4 GWhSelinsgrove, PA · 10.1 GWhLock Haven, PA · 9.49 GWhSt. Marys, PA · 8.89 GWhLewisburg, PA · 8.96 GWh

Places like Pennsylvania

New York · 2.4 TWhOhio · 2.37 TWhIllinois · 2.3 TWhNorth Carolina · 2.52 TWhMichigan · 2.09 TWhGeorgia · 2.11 TWh