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Washington, United States

1.34TWh
every year, from one 325-watt panel on each of 3,611,749 buildings.

What that is equal to

🏠 128 thousand
homes powered for a year
at the US average of 10,500 kWh per household
🌍 498 thousand t
CO₂ avoided annually
displacing grid power at 0.371 kg CO₂e/kWh (EPA eGRID)
🚗 108 thousand
cars taken off the road
an average passenger vehicle emits 4.6 t CO₂e a year
⚡ 3.83 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 10.3¢ a kWh against a local price of 15.0¢ — 31% cheaper than local power. The install is repaid after 16.9 years, inside the panel's 25-year life.
10.3¢ vs 15.0¢
cost per kWh: this panel vs the grid
levelised over 25 years including 0.5%/yr degradation
$3.25 billion
to fit every building here
3,611,749 panels at $900 installed each
16.9 years
to break even
saving $201 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 WA 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 roofs3,611,749
×  Panel rating325 W
×  Annual yield per panel here371.4 kWh
Annual generation1,341,455,167 kWh
Assumptions and limitations
  • Yield is specific to this location: 371.4 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 Washington

King County · 265 GWhPierce County · 137 GWhSnohomish County · 113 GWhSpokane County · 110 GWhClark County · 83.6 GWhThurston County · 53.2 GWhYakima County · 60.7 GWhKitsap County · 48.6 GWhWhatcom County · 42.7 GWhBenton County · 42.3 GWhSkagit County · 32.3 GWhLewis County · 23.7 GWhGrant County · 27.3 GWhCowlitz County · 21.9 GWhClallam County · 20.9 GWhChelan County · 21.7 GWhIsland County · 19.3 GWhGrays Harbor County · 18.6 GWhStevens County · 18.9 GWhOkanogan County · 18.7 GWhMason County · 16.2 GWhFranklin County · 18.2 GWhKittitas County · 15.1 GWhWalla Walla County · 15.8 GWhJefferson County · 9.96 GWhWhitman County · 11.4 GWhDouglas County · 11.2 GWhPacific County · 8.62 GWhKlickitat County · 9.46 GWhSan Juan County · 7.2 GWhLincoln County · 7.61 GWhPend Oreille County · 6.3 GWhAsotin County · 6.17 GWhAdams County · 6.03 GWhFerry County · 4.14 GWhSkamania County · 4.05 GWhWahkiakum County · 1.93 GWhColumbia County · 2.07 GWhGarfield County · 1.42 GWh

Metro areas in Washington

Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA · 515 GWhPortland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA · 395 GWhSpokane-Spokane Valley, WA · 128 GWhOlympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA · 53.2 GWhYakima, WA · 60.7 GWhKennewick-Richland, WA · 60.5 GWhBremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA · 48.6 GWhBellingham, WA · 42.7 GWhMount Vernon-Anacortes, WA · 32.3 GWhWenatchee, WA · 32.9 GWhCentralia, WA · 23.7 GWhMoses Lake, WA · 27.3 GWhLongview, WA · 21.9 GWhPort Angeles, WA · 20.9 GWhOak Harbor, WA · 19.3 GWhAberdeen, WA · 18.6 GWhShelton, WA · 16.2 GWhLewiston, ID-WA · 17.5 GWhEllensburg, WA · 15.1 GWhWalla Walla, WA · 15.8 GWhPullman, WA · 11.4 GWhOthello, WA · 6.03 GWh

Places like Washington

Virginia · 1.65 TWhIndiana · 1.46 TWhWisconsin · 1.42 TWhTennessee · 1.56 TWhMissouri · 1.47 TWhMinnesota · 1.28 TWh