Solar panels in France: will they pay off where you live?
Type your town or postcode: your roof’s real output, the share you will use yourself, surplus sold at today’s tariff and the number of years to pay back.
Pays for itself in · 3 kWp in Paris
18.0 years
Net result over 20 years: +€665
| Output per year | 3,395 kWh |
| Used on site (47 %) | 1,605 kWh |
| Bill saving, year 1 | €321 |
| Surplus sold (1,790 kWh) | €20 |
| Standing-charge surcharge (export) | −€12 |
| Gain in year 1 | €329 |
| Share of your bill covered | 36 % |
| Price used (estimate) | €6,000 |
| Best-value size (estimated prices) | 2 kWc |
Month-by-month output in Paris (3 kWp)
December: 127 kWh; July: 403 kWh. PVGIS average 2005-2023.
- Surplus sold 1.1 c€/kWh since 5 June 2026
- Self-consumption premium Abolished was €0.08/Wp
- VAT up to 9 kWp 5.5 % if conditions are met
This site gives you straight away, for your own commune, your roof’s output, the share you will actually use and the number of years to pay back at the feed-in tariff in force since 5 June 2026, with no form and no call-back. Since that date, surplus power exported to the grid is bought at 1.1 c€/kWh (down from 4 c€) and the self-consumption premium is gone, so the return now depends almost entirely on how much you use while the panels are producing. One kilowatt-peak yields 1,185 kWh a year in the median commune of mainland France, from 887 to 1,589 kWh depending on where you are (PVGIS, European Commission). In Paris, a well-oriented 3 kWp system produces 3,395 kWh, of which a household using 4,500 kWh consumes 47 %: €329 gained in year one. In Marseille the same system produces 4,669 kWh and earns €398.
By Radif Partners · Method and sources · Output by département
What the calculation gives in ten large cities
The table uses identical assumptions everywhere so that only the sunshine changes: same roof, same household, same price. The north produces roughly a third less than the Mediterranean coast, and that gap carries almost unchanged into the yearly gain and the payback time.
| City | kWh per kWp | Output 3 kWp | Self-consumed | Year-1 gain | Pays back in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lille | 1,084 | 3,227 | 48 % | €315 | 18.8 yrs |
| Strasbourg | 1,145 | 3,414 | 46 % | €320 | 18.5 yrs |
| Paris | 1,140 | 3,395 | 47 % | €329 | 18.0 yrs |
| Rennes | 1,158 | 3,454 | 46 % | €327 | 18.1 yrs |
| Nantes | 1,226 | 3,657 | 44 % | €334 | 17.8 yrs |
| Lyon | 1,289 | 3,843 | 44 % | €351 | 16.9 yrs |
| Bordeaux | 1,283 | 3,826 | 45 % | €357 | 16.6 yrs |
| Toulouse | 1,314 | 3,918 | 44 % | €360 | 16.5 yrs |
| Nice | 1,482 | 4,410 | 43 % | €392 | 15.1 yrs |
| Marseille | 1,569 | 4,669 | 41 % | €398 | 14.9 yrs |
These figures are no substitute for your own simulation: your household’s usage, the real orientation of your roof and the price on your quote matter as much as the town. For a département-level view, see the output map of the 94 départements.
Why system size matters more than it used to
Until 4 June 2026, a system sold its surplus at 4 c€/kWh and received a premium of €0.08 per watt-peak. Both changed with the order of 1 June 2026: surplus is now worth 1.1 c€/kWh, indexed by 2 % a year for 20 years, and the premium no longer exists. An exported kWh therefore earns about eighteen times less than one used at home.
The direct consequence: doubling the size does not double the gain. In Paris, for the same household, 3 kWp self-consumes 47 % of its output and 6 kWp only 28 %. The calculator shows which size gives the best 20-year result for your case; the 3 kWp, 6 kWp and 9 kWp pages go through each step.
How many years until your panels pay for themselves?
Pays for itself in
18.0 years
| Output per year | 3,395 kWh |
| Gain in year 1 | €329 |
| Installed price (estimate) | €6,000 |
| Net over 20 years | +€665 |
Département median, roof at 30° due south, surplus sold at 1.1 c€/kWh.
What the calculator does, step by step
It reads your commune’s yearly output for one kilowatt-peak tilted at 35° due south, then adjusts it for your roof’s orientation and tilt using factors computed with PVGIS for seven reference cities. It then estimates the share used on site from an hour-by-hour simulation: 2023 hourly output crossed with the residential load curves published by Enedis, the grid operator, with or without electric heating, with or without a battery. The rest is sold, up to 1,600 operating hours a year.
Savings are valued at the price you pay per kWh (by default the Tarif Bleu of 1 August 2026), exports at your contract’s tariff, and the system price is the one you type. Without a quote, the calculator starts from an estimate drawn from recent quotes and labelled as such: €6,000 for 3 kWp. Every detail, including what the calculation leaves out, is in the method.
Other questions before you sign
Grants and 5.5% VAT, town-hall and Enedis paperwork, plug-in balcony panels and batteries each have their own page with a small calculator. If you are starting from scratch, begin with how photovoltaic panels work in France.
Frequently asked questions
Do solar panels still pay off in France in 2026?
Yes, if you use a good share of what they produce. Since 5 June 2026, exported surplus earns only 1.1 c€/kWh, while every kWh used at home saves a purchase at 20.01 c€ on EDF’s regulated Tarif Bleu. A small, well-sized system pays back; a large one that exports half its output, far less.
How much does a 3 kWp system earn per year?
In Paris, for a household using 4,500 kWh a year without electric heating and a roof at 30° due south, year one brings €329: €321 of electricity you no longer buy and €20 of surplus sold. The calculator redoes this for your commune, roof, usage and the price on your quote.
Will the calculator ask for my phone number?
No. No account, no email address, no phone number, no quote passed to an installer. Everything runs in your browser from files the site publishes itself. Copy the page address to come back to or share your simulation: your settings are stored in it, nowhere else.
Where does the output for my town come from?
From PVGIS 5.3, the European Commission Joint Research Centre’s tool, which averages satellite data for 2005-2023. We queried PVGIS on a grid covering mainland France, then gave each of the 34,386 communes the value of its nearest point, with 14% system losses.
Does sunshine change the payback much from one region to another?
Less than people think. Marseille produces 1,569 kWh per kWp a year, Lille 1,084, according to PVGIS. For 3 kWp and a 4,500 kWh household, payback goes from 14.9 years in Marseille to 18.8 years in Lille. The share of output used on site, the roof’s facing and the price paid weigh as much as sunshine: the regional pages cover each case.
Should I add a home battery?
Rarely, at today’s prices. A battery lets you use more of your own output, but each extra kWh is only worth the gap between the price you buy power at and the export tariff. Enter a capacity in the calculator: it shows the highest price at which the battery still pays for itself over 20 years.
Sources
- PVGIS 5.3, European Commission Joint Research Centre (SARAH3 data 2005-2023)
- Enedis, consumption profile coefficients (Licence Ouverte 2.0)
- Order of 1 June 2026 amending the S21 order of 6 October 2021 (feed-in tariff), Journal officiel of 4 June 2026
- CRE (energy regulator), deliberation 2026-92 of 29 April 2026 on the draft S21 order
- Order of 26 March 2025 amending S21 (4 c€/kWh tariff and €0.08/Wp premium)
- Tarif Bleu regulated price grid from 1 August 2026 (incl. VAT)
- Order of 8 September 2025 setting the reduced-VAT criteria (article 278-0 bis of the tax code)
- Service Public, ‘Installing solar panels’ (formalities, grid connection, tax)
- Price markers from 11 quotes (Sept 2025 - Feb 2026) and 913 kits (private comparison site, estimate)
- French administrative boundaries API (communes, postcodes, coordinates), Licence Ouverte 2.0
Written by Radif Partners
Publisher of a commune-by-commune solar calculator for France, with no installer and no call-back: PVGIS yield, self-consumption, surplus tariff
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Data 2026, checked on