Solar Operations ROI Calculator | Kriya Partners
Kriya Partners

What is your in-house solar team
really costing you?

Compare in-house staffing costs against Kriya Partners' per-project rates for design, engineering, permitting, and interconnection.

1 — Services you handle in-house

Toggle on/off the services you currently handle in-house

2 — Your monthly project volume
Residential Projects
Rooftop solar, battery, or both
20
proj/mo
Commercial Projects
C&I, ground mount, public agency
2
proj/mo
Pipeline variability
How much does your monthly volume fluctuate?
0
%
▼ Adjust salary & overhead assumptions
Overhead covers payroll taxes, health insurance, PTO, software licenses, and recruiting. Defaults are 2026 U.S. market rates for solar-focused roles (Glassdoor · ZipRecruiter · Salary.com). Productivity assumes ~15 resi / 1–10 comm projects per FTE per month depending on system size — larger C&I systems (350 kW+) typically allow 1–2 designs per month for experienced in-house staff. Variable costs not captured here — see "What this comparison doesn't include" above.
Monthly
Annual
You could save
$0
per year with Kriya Partners
—
Cost Breakdown
Service In-House Kriya Saved
📐 Design — — —
⚡ Engineering — — —
📋 Permitting — — —
🔌 Interconnect. — — —
Total — — —
ℹ What this comparison doesn't include ▼

The in-house cost above reflects salary + overhead only. For commercial work especially, additional real costs apply:

  • Variable volume risk — You pay in-house staff the same whether you have 2 projects or 20. Kriya charges zero when you send zero.
  • Software licenses — Commercial design tools (Helioscope, Aurora) run $3–5K+/user/yr.
  • Multi-state PE licensing — An in-house PE is typically licensed in 1–3 states. Kriya covers all 50.
  • Recruiting & turnover — Replacing a commercial designer or PE typically costs 15–20% of their salary ($14–25K).
  • Management overhead — In-house technical staff require supervision, QC review, and coordination time from your leadership.

These factors are real but variable — we don't include them in the numbers above because they depend on your situation. The salary benchmarks above are sourced from Glassdoor, ZipRecruiter, and Salary.com (2026).

Visual Comparison

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Salary benchmarks (2026): Solar Designer ~$88K/yr · Solar Engineer ~$125K/yr · Permit & ICX Specialist ~$66K/yr — sourced from Glassdoor, ZipRecruiter, and Salary.com. A 35% overhead factor is applied by default to cover payroll taxes, health insurance, benefits, PTO, software licenses, and recruiting. In-house staffing costs assume a minimum of 1 full-time employee per function; at low volumes, fractional or contract arrangements are an option but typically cost more per project. Kriya Partners pricing current as of 2026; commercial rates vary by system size. This calculator is for estimation purposes — actual savings will vary based on project complexity, location, and service mix.