How much would it cost to setup a 1 kilowatt photovoltaic system?

Question

How much would it cost to setup a 1 kilowatt photovoltaic system?

Answer 1

200W panel = $1000   x 5 = $5000

plus mounting

plus a 1 kw inverter

plus DC wiring (lots of copper)

plus electrical safety disconnects

Probably $7500 -$10000 or so...before gov't subsidies

The link below has a pretty good calculator and came up with about $9500 for a 1 kw system (might be a bit high...)

Answer 2

The biggest determinant would be how much, if any, rebate you get.

Suppose you live in California.  If you shop carefully, you can find panels for $4.50 a watt.  So that's $4500 worth of panels.  Also, assume you are doing a grid-tied, no battery system.  Add $2000 for an inverter, and by the time you get all the other parts, it will be about $7500.  From the federal government, you will get a 30% tax credit, capped at $2000.  So you're down to $5500.  In California, the state rebate is about $2/watt.  A little more for Southern California, a little less for Northern, and it declines with time.  That means another $2000 back, roughly, knocking the cost down to $3500.  That assumes you install it yourself, which I THINK is still possible (link below for an example).  If you have an installer do it for you, add maybe $3000 to that.

Different states, different countries, different costs and rebates.