The biggest cost currently associated with solar electric systems is the initial installation cost. Depending on the system you want and the amount of electricity you want generated, systems to completely power a very large house can be as much as $50,000, but as small as a few hundred for a portion of the load in smaller houses. All of it depends on how much electricity you want to generate with the system.

The initial cost must not be the only thing you look at either, because in some cases, rebates and incentives from the federal and state governments, combined with utility company rebates can almost pay for half of the entire system.