APS solar planning worksheet

APS Solar Scenario Calculator

Compare one year of self-consumed and exported production without silently assuming installer prices, tax eligibility, rate escalation, degradation, or replacement costs.

Page reviewed July 28, 2026

Assumptions and exclusions are shown below the result.

National Laboratory of the Rockies: PVWatts CalculatorArizona Public Service: Residential Time-of-Use 4pm–7pm Weekdays (R-TOU-E)Arizona Public Service: APS Resource Comparison Proxy export-purchase rate scheduleInternal Revenue Service: Residential Clean Energy Credit guidance

First-year solar scenario

Enter documented annual production, cost, self-consumption, avoided retail value, and incentives rather than relying on hidden defaults.

kWh
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$
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Enter annual production from a current PVWatts result, installer design, or measured system data. This site sends no calculator inputs to NLR and inserts no fallback average.

The avoided-retail field starts with the current APS summer off-peak base energy charge, while export credit starts at zero. Enter the RCP rate locked to your system or another export value only after verifying it for your account. The model applies no automatic federal or Arizona credit.

First-year result

A one-year comparison only—no hidden escalation, degradation, replacement-cost, or lifetime-performance assumptions.

Net upfront cost

$0

$0 entered incentives

First-year value

$0

Self-consumption plus exports

Self-consumed value

$0

0 kWh

Export value

$0

0 kWh

Simple payback: not available until entered net cost and annual value are both positive. This is not a lifetime forecast, quote, tax determination, or performance guarantee.

What the calculator does

Annual production is split using the self-consumption percentage you enter. The self-consumed portion is multiplied by your avoided retail value, and the exported portion is multiplied by your export credit. Those two amounts form the first-year value. Simple payback divides your entered net upfront cost by that first-year value.

The worksheet intentionally stops there. It does not project utility-rate changes, panel degradation, maintenance, inverter replacement, financing, taxes, or 25-year production. A longer forecast would require additional assumptions that should come from your own quotes, equipment documents, and rate plan.

Production source

Enter annual production from the current NLR PVWatts calculator, an installer design, or measured system data that matches the system you are evaluating. This site sends no calculator inputs to NLR and inserts no production average.

APS rate fields

The avoided-retail field starts with the summer off-peak base energy charge from the named APS TOU-E tariff. That value excludes adjustors, taxes, fees, and other bill items, and it may not represent the hours when your system offsets purchases. The export field starts at zero because APS export compensation is account- and tranche-specific. The current APS RCP tranche is shown only as a source-backed reference. Replace both fields with values that apply to your account.

Credits and incentives

No federal or Arizona credit is inserted automatically. IRS guidance says the federal Residential Clean Energy Credit is not available for property placed in service after December 31, 2025. Tax facts and eligibility can differ, so enter an incentive only after verifying it for your installation and filing situation. This page is not tax or financial advice.