Free solar installer calculator
Solar installer job profit and margin calculator
Calculate job profit, margin, markup, cost per watt, and the selling price needed for a target margin. Free, private, and no signup.
Enter the contract value, approved change orders, direct job costs, allocated overhead, and any revenue-based fee to estimate one installation's job economics. Your entries stay in your browser, and the result is not company-wide net income.
Job inputs
Use a slider for speed or type the exact value.Use the installed DC system size.
Used to calculate the target selling price.
Contract amount before approved changes.
Panel equipment cost.
Inverter and storage equipment cost.
Total field and project labor hours.
Fully loaded hourly labor rate.
Signed changes added to the job.
Racking and balance-of-system materials.
Subcontracted installation or specialty work.
Design, permitting, and inspection costs.
Shipping, delivery, and travel costs.
Sales commissions and acquisition costs.
Other job-specific direct costs.
Choose a fixed overhead amount or a percent of direct costs.
Allocated overhead for this job.
Revenue-based fee rate.
Worked example
A fictional residential installation
An 8 kW job has a $32,000 base contract and $1,000 in approved change orders. Its entered direct costs total $21,400, including $2,160 of loaded labor. The example allocates $2,000 of fixed overhead and applies a 5% revenue-based fee.
| Measure | Result |
|---|---|
| Revenue | $33,000 |
| Total job cost | $25,050 |
| Job profit | $7,950 |
| Job margin | 24.09% |
| Price per watt | $4.13/W |
| Cost per watt | $3.13/W |
| Target revenue at 20% margin | $31,200 |
This illustrative example is not a benchmark.
Definitions and formulas
How the calculator gets each result
- Job profit
- Revenue minus total job cost.
- Job margin
- Job profit divided by revenue.
- Markup
- Job profit divided by total job cost.
- Fixed job cost
- Direct costs plus the allocated overhead entered for the job.
- RevenueBase contract + approved change orders
- Loaded labor costLabor hours × loaded labor rate
- Direct costsEntered equipment and project costs + loaded labor cost
- Allocated overheadFixed amount entered, or direct costs × overhead rate
- Fixed job costDirect costs + allocated overhead
- Revenue-based feeRevenue × fee rate
- Total job costDirect costs + allocated overhead + revenue-based fee
- Job profitRevenue − total job cost
- Job marginJob profit ÷ revenue
- MarkupJob profit ÷ total job cost
- Price and cost per wattRevenue or total job cost ÷ (system size in kW × 1,000)
- Break-even revenueFixed job cost ÷ (1 − fee rate)
- Target selling priceFixed job cost ÷ (1 − fee rate − target margin)
Input checklist
Costs to review before using the result
Include only amounts that apply to the installation, and use your own records and allocation policy.
- Panels and module-level equipment
- Inverter and battery
- Racking and electrical balance of system
- Loaded installation labor
- Subcontractors
- Engineering and permitting
- Freight and travel
- Sales commission or customer-acquisition cost
- Allocated overhead
- Dealer or financing fees
- Approved change orders
Read before deciding
Methodology and limitations
Method
The calculator applies the visible formulas to the values you enter. It calculates with unrounded numbers and rounds only the displayed results. Percentage overhead is applied to direct costs; a fixed overhead amount is added as entered. The dealer or financing fee is treated as a percentage of revenue.
Limits
Solar1 does not verify your inputs. Results omit taxes, expenses, financing structures, timing effects, and company costs you do not enter. The target price is unavailable when the fee rate and target margin total 100% or more. This is an estimating aid, not a benchmark, forecast, accounting opinion, or guarantee of project or company performance.
Source context
The source below provides general context on solar soft costs. It does not provide the example values, endorse this calculator, or validate a result.
Questions
Solar job profit calculator FAQs
What is job margin?
Job margin is the job profit divided by job revenue. In this calculator, job profit is revenue minus the direct costs, allocated overhead, and revenue-based fee entered for the installation.
What is the difference between margin and markup?
Margin compares job profit with revenue. Markup compares job profit with total job cost. The percentages answer different questions and are not interchangeable.
How is target selling price calculated?
The calculator divides fixed job cost by one minus the revenue-based fee rate and target margin. It cannot calculate a target price when those two percentages total 100 percent or more.
Does Solar1 receive or store my numbers?
No. The calculator runs in your browser and does not send, save, or place the entered financial values in the page URL.
Is job profit the same as company net income?
No. This result includes only the project costs and allocated overhead you enter. It does not account for taxes, omitted expenses, or the rest of the company.
Related Solar1 guides
Connect the calculation to job records
From estimate to actual
Track estimated and actual costs across every installation.
A workflow assessment maps how your team records estimates, purchasing, labor, billing, and actual job costs, including where ownership and handoffs need to be defined.