YieldWatt

Balcony solar in Sacramento

800 W of panels on a south-facing balcony railing in Sacramento produce about 830 kWh a year and save about $138.

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°
East640 kWh1,080 kWh
South-east820 kWh1,260 kWh
South830 kWh1,320 kWh
South-west790 kWh1,240 kWh
West590 kWh1,050 kWh

Output by month

Railing (vertical) Tilted at 30°
Monthly output in Sacramento, south-facing0100200JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Show as a table
MonthRailing (vertical)Tilted at 30°
Jan86 kWh81 kWh
Feb82 kWh89 kWh
Mar76 kWh100 kWh
Apr67 kWh130 kWh
May51 kWh140 kWh
Jun36 kWh130 kWh
Jul43 kWh140 kWh
Aug62 kWh140 kWh
Sep73 kWh110 kWh
Oct97 kWh110 kWh
Nov81 kWh80 kWh
Dec76 kWh70 kWh

Savings and payback

At $0.3258 per kWh you save about $138 in the first year. A kit costing $1,300 pays back in about 9.4 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 51% 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