PPA Evaluation

Is This PPA a Good Deal?

Paste in a solar Power Purchase Agreement offer and compare its true lifetime cost against staying with your utility. The math that sales reps skip: total 25-year cost, break-even year, and the escalation clauses that quietly erase your savings.

Your PPA Offer

$

Per kWh (e.g. 0.13)

%

Per year (0 = flat)

$

Per kWh (EIA national avg shown)

kWh

US avg ~10,715

Advanced assumptions
%

EIA historical avg ~3.5%/yr

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How the math works

For each year Y of the contract, the PPA rate steps up by the escalation rate while the utility rate steps up by your assumed utility escalation. Annual cost equals rate times your annual usage. We sum both sides over the full term and find the first year cumulative utility cost exceeds cumulative PPA cost (the break-even point).

The utility default rate ($0.1844/kWh) is the EIA May 2026 US residential average. The default 3.5%/yr utility escalation is the EIA long-run historical average. Always pressure-test the escalation clause: a 2.9% escalator sounds small but compounds to a 44% higher PPA rate by year 13.

Written & reviewed by

Jeremy Wolfe — Senior Solar Energy Analyst

Jeremy Wolfe is a solar energy analyst specializing in residential photovoltaic economics, federal and state incentive policy, and return-on-investment modeling for homeowners. He leads EnergyTools' solar research program and methodology.

  • 10+ years analyzing residential solar economics and payback modeling
  • Lead researcher for EnergyTools' 50-state solar cost-per-watt database
  • Author of 100+ solar ROI, payback, and incentive analyses

Methodology & data sources:NREL PVWatts, EPA FuelEconomy.gov, state utility commissions— updated 2026.