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Wisconsin, United States

1.42TWh
every year, from one 325-watt panel on each of 3,634,186 buildings.

What that is equal to

🏠 135 thousand
homes powered for a year
at the US average of 10,500 kWh per household
🌍 525 thousand t
CO₂ avoided annually
displacing grid power at 0.371 kg CO₂e/kWh (EPA eGRID)
🚗 114 thousand
cars taken off the road
an average passenger vehicle emits 4.6 t CO₂e a year
⚡ 4.04 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 9.8¢ a kWh against a local price of 19.7¢ — 50% cheaper than local power. The install is repaid after 12.0 years, inside the panel's 25-year life.
9.8¢ vs 19.7¢
cost per kWh: this panel vs the grid
levelised over 25 years including 0.5%/yr degradation
$3.27 billion
to fit every building here
3,634,186 panels at $900 installed each
12.0 years
to break even
saving $279 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 WI 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 roofs3,634,186
×  Panel rating325 W
×  Annual yield per panel here389.4 kWh
Annual generation1,415,218,513 kWh
Assumptions and limitations
  • Yield is specific to this location: 389.4 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 Wisconsin

Milwaukee County · 154 GWhDane County · 83.7 GWhWaukesha County · 67.1 GWhBrown County · 48.5 GWhOutagamie County · 42.5 GWhWinnebago County · 41 GWhRacine County · 38.1 GWhKenosha County · 34.2 GWhMarathon County · 36.1 GWhRock County · 35.1 GWhWashington County · 33 GWhSheboygan County · 25.9 GWhFond du Lac County · 26.8 GWhWalworth County · 24.9 GWhSauk County · 24.5 GWhLa Crosse County · 24.2 GWhDodge County · 23.7 GWhManitowoc County · 22.2 GWhOconto County · 21.3 GWhSt. Croix County · 21.1 GWhWood County · 21.3 GWhEau Claire County · 20.8 GWhJefferson County · 19.8 GWhOneida County · 19.1 GWhChippewa County · 18.6 GWhPortage County · 18.1 GWhGrant County · 18.2 GWhMarinette County · 16.4 GWhOzaukee County · 16.4 GWhWaupaca County · 17 GWhPolk County · 16.9 GWhBarron County · 16.3 GWhColumbia County · 16.3 GWhDouglas County · 14.3 GWhMonroe County · 15.1 GWhShawano County · 14.5 GWhCalumet County · 13.4 GWhVilas County · 12.2 GWhDunn County · 13.2 GWhGreen County · 13.2 GWhBayfield County · 11.8 GWhVernon County · 12.5 GWhDoor County · 11.5 GWhClark County · 12.1 GWhJuneau County · 11.3 GWhPierce County · 11.2 GWhAdams County · 11 GWhWaushara County · 10.7 GWhLincoln County · 9.94 GWhTrempealeau County · 10.2 GWhBurnett County · 9.97 GWhIowa County · 8.9 GWhLanglade County · 8.23 GWhSawyer County · 8.15 GWhWashburn County · 8.04 GWhGreen Lake County · 7.68 GWhMarquette County · 7.67 GWhJackson County · 7.66 GWhTaylor County · 7.42 GWhLafayette County · 7.71 GWhKewaunee County · 6.98 GWhPrice County · 7.1 GWhAshland County · 6.61 GWhCrawford County · 7.01 GWhRichland County · 6.72 GWhRusk County · 6.35 GWhBuffalo County · 6.5 GWhForest County · 4.95 GWhIron County · 3.22 GWhPepin County · 3.13 GWhFlorence County · 2.85 GWhMenominee County · 1.38 GWh

Metro areas in Wisconsin

Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI · 1.37 TWhMinneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI · 597 GWhMilwaukee-Waukesha, WI · 270 GWhMadison, WI · 122 GWhDuluth, MN-WI · 89.5 GWhGreen Bay, WI · 76.9 GWhAppleton, WI · 55.9 GWhWausau-Weston, WI · 46 GWhOshkosh-Neenah, WI · 41 GWhRacine, WI · 38.1 GWhEau Claire, WI · 39.4 GWhJanesville-Beloit, WI · 35.1 GWhLa Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN · 31.6 GWhSheboygan, WI · 25.9 GWhFond du Lac, WI · 26.8 GWhMarinette, WI-MI · 25.2 GWhWhitewater, WI · 24.9 GWhBaraboo, WI · 24.5 GWhBeaver Dam, WI · 23.7 GWhManitowoc, WI · 22.2 GWhWisconsin Rapids-Marshfield, WI · 21.3 GWhWatertown-Fort Atkinson, WI · 19.8 GWhStevens Point, WI · 18.1 GWhPlatteville, WI · 18.2 GWhShawano, WI · 15.9 GWhMenomonie, WI · 13.2 GWhIron Mountain, MI-WI · 10 GWh

Places like Wisconsin

Virginia · 1.65 TWhIndiana · 1.46 TWhTennessee · 1.56 TWhWashington · 1.34 TWhMissouri · 1.47 TWhMinnesota · 1.28 TWh