Solar Inverter Installation Break-Even: About $68K Monthly Revenue

Fixed costs $41.5K/mo Year 1 base

Contribution margin 61% After direct costs

Break-even revenue $68.1K/mo Monthly target

Break-even timing Month 18 Model break point

Break-even calculator

Use this calculator to test monthly revenue, variable expenses, and fixed costs against break-even for a solar inverter installation service.

Lean Base Full

Monthly revenue Revenue is the pool that covers direct costs and then fixed overhead. $ Low volume Heavy volume Variable expenses These are direct costs that move with install work, travel, and subcontract labor. $ Light direct cost Heavy direct cost

Money available to cover fixed costs $117,975 $178,750 revenue - $60,775 variable expenses

Margin ratio

66%

Covers fixed costs

Yes

Fixed monthly costs This is the monthly overhead and payroll the margin must cover. $ Lean overhead Expanded team

Break-even chart Revenue Total costs

Which expenses are fixed and which move with sales for a solar inverter installation service?

Cost classification

Break-even is only useful if fixed, variable, and step-up costs are split cleanly. In this model, Month 18 depends on covering salaried crews and monthly overhead while job-linked parts, fuel, and subcontract labor move with revenue.

Expense	Cost	Break-Even Treatment	Common Mistake
Office Rent and Utilities	Fixed	Include $3,200 per month in overhead before calculating job profit.	Spreading rent across jobs and hiding the slow-month burden.
Business Insurance and Vehicle Fleet Insurance	Fixed	Include $4,000 per month as recurring coverage overhead.	Dropping insurance from break-even because it is not tied to each job.
Professional Licenses and Certifications	Fixed	Include $650 per month as a required operating expense.	Treating licenses as optional when they run every month.
Parts and Components	Variable	Model at 18% of revenue in the first year, falling to 14% by Year 5.	Using one flat dollar amount instead of tying parts to sales volume.
Fuel and Vehicle Operating Costs	Variable	Model at 8% of revenue in the first year, improving to 6% by Year 5.	Ignoring drive time and routing when job volume rises.
Subcontractor and Temporary Labor	Variable	Model at 5% of revenue in the first year, falling to 3% by Year 5.	Leaving subcontract labor in fixed payroll when it should flex with jobs.
Marketing and Advertising	Semi-variable	Start with the $3,750 monthly budget, then test demand using $450 CAC in Year 1.	Counting the monthly budget but ignoring acquisition efficiency.
Technician Payroll and Dispatch Admin	Semi-fixed	Add crew and admin payroll in steps as capacity expands from technicians to support staff.	Treating all technician labor as variable when salaried crew must be covered in a slow month.

How does break-even change across lean, base, and full-volume months for a solar inverter installation service?

Scenario table

Lean months stay close to the edge because fixed overhead is about $41.5k a month. Once revenue reaches the base case, contribution covers those costs; the full-volume case adds cushion, but it’s still a planning reference, not a sales promise.

Planning assumptions only; actual results can shift with job mix, labor use, and timing.

Scenario	Monthly Revenue	Variable Costs	Fixed Costs	CM Ratio	Operating Profit	Break-Even Signal
Lean install month	$55,100	$21,489	$41,525	61.0%	-$7,914	Still short of break-even by about $7.9k.
Base break-even month	$68,100	$26,575	$41,525	61.0%	$0	Contribution covers fixed overhead.
Full-volume reference month	$117,200	$42,778	$55,150	63.5%	$19,272	Higher volume leaves a clear cushion after fixed costs.

What breaks the break-even plan for a solar inverter install business?

Stress test

This plan breaks first on volume and job cost. A 15% revenue drop, a 10% overhead bump, or variable costs rising from 39% to 44% each push it back into a gap; together they widen it fast.

Stress Case	Changed Assumption	Break-Even Revenue	Revenue Gap	Risk Signal
Current plan	No change.	$68,100	$0 gap	No cushion if leads slow or jobs slip.
Revenue shortfall	Revenue falls 15% to about $57,900.	$68,100	$6,200 gap	Fewer installs quickly reopen an operating hole.
Fixed-cost rise	Fixed overhead rises 10% to about $45,700.	$74,900	$4,200 gap	More overhead pushes break-even above plan.
Margin pressure	Variable costs rise from 39% to 44%, so margin drops to 56%.	$74,200	$3,400 gap	Higher parts, fuel, or temp labor thin the margin fast.
Combined pressure	Revenue falls 15%, fixed overhead rises 10%, and margin drops to 56%.	$81,600	$13,300 gap	Permit delays, repeat truck rolls, and idle technicians widen the loss.

Can you prove the job mix and cash math before you buy more vehicles, hire more people, and scale ad spend?

Founder checklist

If the blended ticket holds near $1,101 and CAC stays near $450, the model can reach break-even by Month 18. The catch is simple: fixed load and cash burn have to stay controlled before you add vehicles or hires.

1Ticket Mix$1,101 avg ticket

Verify the blended ticket stays near $1,101 from 45% new installs, 25% replacements, 15% maintenance, and 15% subcontracting before you scale.

2Fixed Load$41.5K/mo fixed load

Keep Year 1 payroll at $27.1K/mo and base overhead at $14.4K/mo; together they create a $41.5K monthly floor, so delay the extra vehicle until jobs can cover it.

3Margin Floor61% CM

Keep parts, tools depreciation, fuel, and temporary labor at the modeled 39% of revenue so about 61% contribution margin is left to pay the fixed load.

4Crew Ramp3 tech FTE

Verify 3 tech FTE can handle 12-hour installs, 8-hour replacements, 4-hour maintenance jobs, and 6-hour subcontractor work, and map permit and inspection steps before you promise dates.

5Cash Reserve$438K reserve

Hold at least $438K of cash, because break-even lands in Month 18 and payback stretches to Month 43.

6CAC Target$450 CAC

Keep CAC near $450 so the $45,000 Year 1 marketing budget can fund about 100 jobs without pushing the plan past break-even.