Solar O&M Cost Calculator

Plan O&M budgets across solar sites with confidence. Adjust assumptions, escalation, and degradation in seconds. Download reports, share results, and control long term costs.

Calculator Inputs
Responsive layout: three columns on large screens, two on smaller, one on mobile.
Nameplate DC capacity for O&M scaling.
Expected production in the first year.
Routine inspections, tools, admin overhead.
Production-driven costs or service contracts.
Planned preventive maintenance labor hours.
Blended crew cost including supervision.
Panel washing schedule by site conditions.
Includes labor, water, access equipment.
Mowing, herbicide, and perimeter control.
Contractor cost per visit.
SCADA, data hosting, alerting services.
Used to estimate annual insurance cost.
Property and liability coverage assumption.
Spare parts, permits, site access, misc.
Major component replacement cost if applicable.
Set 0 to ignore replacement.
Adds buffer for unexpected site work.
Inflation for O&M costs over time.
Annual production reduction assumption.
Used for NPV and levelized metrics.
Valid range: 1 to 50 years.
Reset

Tip: If you changed the inputs, press Calculate again before downloading.

Example Data Table

Sample assumptions to demonstrate typical output formatting.

Scenario Capacity (kW) Energy (kWh/yr) Year 1 O&M ($) Levelized O&M ($/kWh)
Commercial rooftop 50 75,000 1,400 0.020
Ground-mount site 250 375,000 7,250 0.018
Industrial array 1000 1,500,000 26,500 0.016

Values are illustrative and depend heavily on site conditions.

Formula Used
  • Fixed O&M: Capacity × Fixed rate
  • Variable O&M: Annual energy × Variable rate
  • Labor: Labor hours × Labor rate
  • Cleaning: Visits × Cost per visit
  • Vegetation: Visits × Cost per visit
  • Insurance: Capex × Insurance rate
  • Year 1 Base O&M: Sum of all components
  • Contingency: Base O&M × (1 + Contingency %)
  • Escalated Cost in Year t: Year 1 × (1 + Escalation)^(t−1)
  • Degraded Energy in Year t: Year 1 × (1 − Degradation)^(t−1)
  • Discounted Value: Nominal ÷ (1 + Discount)^(t−1)
  • NPV Cost: Sum of discounted costs over the period
  • NPV Energy: Sum of discounted energy over the period
  • Levelized O&M ($/kWh): NPV Cost ÷ NPV Energy
  • Equivalent Annual Cost: NPV Cost × Annuity factor

Replacement cost is added only in the selected replacement year.

How to Use This Calculator
  1. Enter system capacity and first-year energy production.
  2. Fill in routine costs for labor, cleaning, and vegetation.
  3. Add monitoring fees and an insurance rate if required.
  4. Include a major replacement cost and the planned year.
  5. Set contingency, escalation, degradation, discount, and years.
  6. Press Calculate to view totals and levelized indicators.
  7. Download CSV or PDF to share your estimate.

For construction estimating, adjust visits and labor to match access constraints, safety plans, and site logistics.

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Important Note: All the Calculators listed in this site are for educational purpose only and we do not guarentee the accuracy of results. Please do consult with other sources as well.