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Tennessee, United States

1.56TWh
every year, from one 325-watt panel on each of 3,618,702 buildings.

What that is equal to

🏠 149 thousand
homes powered for a year
at the US average of 10,500 kWh per household
🌍 580 thousand t
CO₂ avoided annually
displacing grid power at 0.371 kg CO₂e/kWh (EPA eGRID)
🚗 126 thousand
cars taken off the road
an average passenger vehicle emits 4.6 t CO₂e a year
⚡ 4.47 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 8.8¢ a kWh against a local price of 14.5¢ — 39% cheaper than local power. The install is repaid after 14.9 years, inside the panel's 25-year life.
8.8¢ vs 14.5¢
cost per kWh: this panel vs the grid
levelised over 25 years including 0.5%/yr degradation
$3.26 billion
to fit every building here
3,618,702 panels at $900 installed each
14.9 years
to break even
saving $226 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 TN 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 roofs3,618,702
×  Panel rating325 W
×  Annual yield per panel here431.9 kWh
Annual generation1,562,965,863 kWh
Assumptions and limitations
  • Yield is specific to this location: 431.9 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 Tennessee

Shelby County · 163 GWhDavidson County · 119 GWhKnox County · 87 GWhHamilton County · 65.3 GWhRutherford County · 57.3 GWhWilliamson County · 40.9 GWhSumner County · 38.3 GWhSullivan County · 37.5 GWhMontgomery County · 35.5 GWhBlount County · 31.9 GWhWilson County · 30.5 GWhWashington County · 28.8 GWhSevier County · 28.7 GWhGreene County · 23.3 GWhBradley County · 22.9 GWhMaury County · 23.1 GWhRobertson County · 18.7 GWhAnderson County · 18.4 GWhMadison County · 19.2 GWhCumberland County · 18.8 GWhHawkins County · 18.1 GWhPutnam County · 17.7 GWhJefferson County · 16.3 GWhHamblen County · 16 GWhMcMinn County · 16 GWhCarter County · 15.6 GWhCoffee County · 15.6 GWhHenry County · 15.1 GWhRoane County · 15.2 GWhBedford County · 14.9 GWhMonroe County · 14.1 GWhDickson County · 13.8 GWhLawrence County · 14 GWhLoudon County · 13.9 GWhGibson County · 13.8 GWhFranklin County · 13.4 GWhTipton County · 13.5 GWhWarren County · 12.7 GWhLincoln County · 12.5 GWhCocke County · 12.4 GWhCampbell County · 11.5 GWhFayette County · 11.8 GWhClaiborne County · 10.9 GWhGiles County · 10.8 GWhMarshall County · 10.3 GWhWeakley County · 9.97 GWhCheatham County · 9.86 GWhCarroll County · 9.91 GWhDyer County · 9.53 GWhRhea County · 9.35 GWhHardin County · 9.41 GWhObion County · 9.41 GWhHenderson County · 9.24 GWhWhite County · 9.07 GWhMarion County · 9.01 GWhMacon County · 8.79 GWhGrainger County · 8.74 GWhMcNairy County · 8.43 GWhOverton County · 7.84 GWhFentress County · 7.05 GWhHickman County · 7.13 GWhDeKalb County · 6.97 GWhJohnson County · 6.82 GWhHardeman County · 6.77 GWhScott County · 6.42 GWhSmith County · 6.42 GWhUnion County · 6.43 GWhHumphreys County · 6.33 GWhMorgan County · 6.19 GWhLauderdale County · 6.13 GWhBenton County · 5.7 GWhPolk County · 5.74 GWhWayne County · 5.46 GWhCannon County · 5.41 GWhUnicoi County · 5.1 GWhBledsoe County · 5.18 GWhChester County · 5.01 GWhSequatchie County · 4.81 GWhStewart County · 4.74 GWhGrundy County · 4.76 GWhHaywood County · 4.79 GWhDecatur County · 4.7 GWhCrockett County · 4.63 GWhMeigs County · 4.41 GWhJackson County · 4.26 GWhLewis County · 4.14 GWhTrousdale County · 3.98 GWhClay County · 3.36 GWhHancock County · 3.15 GWhPerry County · 3.12 GWhHouston County · 2.85 GWhPickett County · 2.64 GWhVan Buren County · 2.69 GWhMoore County · 2.66 GWhLake County · 1.48 GWh

Metro areas in Tennessee

Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN · 376 GWhMemphis, TN-MS-AR · 253 GWhKnoxville, TN · 190 GWhChattanooga, TN-GA · 115 GWhKingsport-Bristol, TN-VA · 85.6 GWhClarksville, TN-KY · 62.1 GWhJohnson City, TN · 49.5 GWhMorristown, TN · 41 GWhJackson, TN · 42.6 GWhTullahoma-Manchester, TN · 31.7 GWhCookeville, TN · 29.8 GWhCleveland, TN · 28.7 GWhSevierville, TN · 28.7 GWhGreeneville, TN · 23.3 GWhCrossville, TN · 18.8 GWhAthens, TN · 16 GWhParis, TN · 15.1 GWhShelbyville, TN · 14.9 GWhLawrenceburg, TN · 14 GWhMcMinnville, TN · 12.7 GWhNewport, TN · 12.4 GWhLewisburg, TN · 10.3 GWhMartin, TN · 9.97 GWhDyersburg, TN · 9.53 GWhDayton, TN · 9.35 GWhUnion City, TN · 9.41 GWhBrownsville, TN · 4.79 GWh

Places like Tennessee

Virginia · 1.65 TWhIndiana · 1.46 TWhWisconsin · 1.42 TWhWashington · 1.34 TWhMissouri · 1.47 TWhMinnesota · 1.28 TWh