Balcony solar in Pomona

800 W of panels on a south-facing balcony railing in Pomona produce about 840 kWh a year and save about $141.

Output by orientation and mounting

Yearly output with 800 W of panels and the inverter limited to 800 W.

Panels face On the railing (vertical) Tilted at 30°
East620 kWh1,110 kWh
South-east800 kWh1,300 kWh
South840 kWh1,380 kWh
South-west850 kWh1,340 kWh
West680 kWh1,160 kWh

Output by month

Railing (vertical) Tilted at 30°
Monthly output in Pomona, south-facing0100200JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Show as a table
MonthRailing (vertical)Tilted at 30°
Jan100 kWh100 kWh
Feb89 kWh100 kWh
Mar81 kWh120 kWh
Apr58 kWh130 kWh
May39 kWh120 kWh
Jun30 kWh130 kWh
Jul33 kWh130 kWh
Aug51 kWh140 kWh
Sep67 kWh110 kWh
Oct94 kWh120 kWh
Nov96 kWh98 kWh
Dec98 kWh93 kWh

Savings and payback

At $0.3258 per kWh you save about $141 in the first year. A kit costing $1,300 pays back in about 9.2 years.

  • Electricity price: $0.3258 per kWh (U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2025-09..2026-08). Source
  • Assumes a constant base load of 150 W, so 52% of the output is used at home.
  • Power sent to the grid is not paid for.

Calculate with your own figures

Rules

California

Takes effect on January 1, 2027

Up to 1,200 W of inverter output per home.

  • Certified as a plug-in photovoltaic system by UL or an equivalent nationally recognized testing laboratory, with a certified feature that prevents backfeeding during an outage; meets the National Electrical Code and the California Electrical Code.
  • Your utility may ask you to register the kit.

Last verified: October 31, 2026

Full rules for California

Nearby cities

Data sources

  • Solar data: PVGIS-NSRDB, PVGIS 5.2, 2011–2015.
  • Electricity price: U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2025-09..2026-08.
  • Last verified: October 31, 2026
  • How we calculate