Renewable Energy ROI Calculator

Assess the return on a renewable energy investment against its lifetime savings.

About Renewable Energy ROI Calculator

Simple payback divides the up-front cost by the recurring annual benefit to get the number of years before the renewable installation has paid for itself. Everything after that point is net gain, which the lifetime figures make explicit. Payback is the first screen most buyers apply: a system that pays back inside its warranty period is a very different proposition from one that does not.

Formula

Renewable Energy ROI

Payback (years) = Capital cost of the installation ÷ annual annual energy saving

Capital cost of the installation: Up-front cost
Annual energy saving: Recurring saving or return per year

Worked example

With the default values below, Renewable Energy ROI Calculator returns Payback Period of 7.86. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.

Inputs used

Capital cost of the installationminimum 0: 22,000
Annual energy savingminimum 0: 2,800
Expected lifeaccepts 1–60 years: 20 years

Results

Payback Period: 7.86 years
Payback Period: 94.3 months
Lifetime Saving: $56,000.00
Net Lifetime Benefit: $34,000.00
Lifetime Return: 154.5%

Step by step

1Values used
2Renewable Energy ROI
3Payback Period= 7.86 years
4Payback Period= 94.3 months
5Lifetime Saving= 56,000.00
6Net Lifetime Benefit= 34,000.00
7Lifetime Return= 154.5

Assumptions and limits

The result is derived only from the 3 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
In particular, this calculator does not take inflation or tax into account.
Figures are rounded for display to 2 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.

How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.

Frequently Asked Questions

How is Renewable Energy ROI calculated?

Payback (years) = Capital cost of the installation ÷ annual annual energy saving Simple payback divides the up-front cost by the recurring annual benefit to get the number of years before the renewable installation has paid for itself. Everything after that point is net gain, which the lifetime figures make explicit.

Why does Renewable Energy ROI matter?

Payback is the first screen most buyers apply: a system that pays back inside its warranty period is a very different proposition from one that does not.

What values do I need to enter?

This calculator takes 3 inputs: Capital cost of the installation, Annual energy saving, Expected life. The pre-filled defaults are a realistic starting point — replace them with figures from your own environment for a result you can act on.