How Much Do Solar Power Business Owners Make? $120K Salary Plus Profit
A solar company owner can make the planned $120,000 annual salary in this model, plus possible profit distributions if cash, taxes, debt service, and reserves allow The business generates $25 million in Year 1 revenue and $147 million by Year 5, with EBITDA moving from $1407 million to $10703 million Revenue is not owner income hardware, permitting, sales costs, payroll, fixed overhead, capex, and cash reserves come first Here’s the quick math: Year 1 revenue of $25 million minus 19% direct and variable costs, $445,000 payroll, and $104,400 fixed overhead leaves strong operating room before taxes, debt, and reinvestment
Owner income$120kNet margin56.3%Revenue for target pay$678kBusiness difficultyHard
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Owner income calculator
Estimate owner take-home and the target-pay gap from revenue, margin, costs, reserves, and target pay.
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Planning note: Research-based planning estimate only. It is not guaranteed salary, tax advice, owner distribution advice, incentive guarantees, financing approval assumptions, or guaranteed distributions.
Want the six drivers that move owner income?
1
Install Volume
$25M-$147M
More completed installs lift revenue fast; Year 1 to Year 5 model revenue jumps from $25 million to $147 million, so this is the biggest take-home driver.
2
Project Size
High
Bigger residential and commercial jobs raise revenue per sale, and a few larger contracts can move owner income more than small quote gains.
3
Gross Margin
19%-65%
Gross margin is the gap after hardware and permit costs, so every point kept here flows straight into profit and protects cash.
4
Crew Output
Strong
Higher crew productivity lets the team finish more projects with the same labor base, which supports scale without matching wage growth.
5
Lead Cost
3.0%-1.0%
Customer acquisition cost drops from 3.0% to 1.0% over the plan, so cheaper leads keep more revenue as take-home profit.
6
Cash Buffer
$851K
Overhead is fixed at $104,400 a year, and the $851,000 minimum cash need means reserve discipline matters when project timing slips.
Want to see the Solar Power forecast behind owner income?
The Solar Power Financial Model Template shows revenue, EBITDA, cash, breakeven, payback, IRR, and ROE, with $25 million Year 1 revenue, $147 million Year 5 revenue, and EBITDA from $1,407 million to $10,703 million; open the model to test owner income.
Owner-income model highlights
Owner salary versus EBITDA
Cash need and payback
Scenario sensitivity charts
Tabs from sales to reserves
What affects solar installation profit margins?
For Solar Power, the biggest margin swing comes from project execution, not tax planning. In year 1, hardware and equipment take 12% of revenue and permitting and inspection take 3%, so gross margin is about 85% before sales and logistics; for launch cost context, see What Is The Estimated Cost To Open And Launch Your Solar Power Business?. Owner income rises when crews finish clean jobs faster and cash gets collected on time.
A small Solar Power owner can plan for a $120,000 CEO salary in Year 1, while the model shows $1.407 million in EBITDA, or pre-tax operating profit before financing and depreciation. That cash is not guaranteed take-home: as What Is The Most Critical Measure Of Success For Solar Power? points out, income depends on completed, installed, and collected projects, not signed proposals.
Owner income
$120,000 planned CEO salary
$1.407 million Year 1 EBITDA
$25 million Year 1 revenue
Residential and commercial sales only
What changes it
Collect cash after project completion
Watch payroll and lead costs
Manage permitting and warranty delays
Year 5 revenue reaches $147 million
Does a solar business make more money as it scales?
Solar Power can make more money as it scales, but owner take-home can lag while the team and cash needs grow. Revenue rises from $25 million in Year 1 to $147 million in Year 5, and EBITDA climbs from $1.407 million to $10.703 million. The catch is that payroll also jumps from $445,000 to about $14.675 million, so cash discipline matters when jobs are waiting on permits, interconnection, and inspections.
Why scale helps
$25 million grows to $147 million.
EBITDA rises to $10.703 million.
More crew adds more install capacity.
Manager-led teams can build more value.
What eats cash
Payroll reaches about $14.675 million.
Vehicles, tools, and inventory tie up cash.
Lead flow and permits can slow payments.
Owner-led shops may pay sooner, but reserves stay thin.
Key Takeaways
Completed installs drive revenue only after cash collection.
Bigger tickets help only if margins and cycle time improve.
Margin leaks cut owner income dollar for dollar.
Strong crews and reserves protect cash during delays.
Compare lean, base, and high-growth solar owner income scenarios
Owner income scenarios
Owner take-home rises as the business moves from a small install team to a larger, multi-service operation. EBITDA improves fast, but cash for distribution still depends on taxes, debt, capex, reserves, and reinvestment.
Low, base, and high cases show how scale changes owner pay room.
Scenario
Low CaseOwner-operated
Base CaseCrew-based
High CaseManager-led
Launch model
Lower-earnings path with Year 1 scale and the founder still running the workday.
Modeled middle path with Year 3 scale and a fuller install crew in place.
Stronger earnings path with Year 5 scale and the owner stepping back from daily delivery.
Typical setup
Year 1 revenue is about $2.5M, with a $120,000 owner salary, $1.407M EBITDA, 19% direct and variable costs, $445,000 payroll, and $104,400 fixed overhead.
Year 3 revenue is about $7.75M, with a $120,000 owner salary, $5.223M EBITDA, 16.2% direct and variable costs, and $952,500 payroll.
Year 5 revenue is about $14.7M, with a $120,000 owner salary, $10.703M EBITDA, 13.5% direct and variable costs, and $1,467,500 payroll.
Cost drivers
hardware and permits
sales lead gen
small team payroll
fixed overhead
owner salary
hardware and equipment
permitting fees
sales and lead gen
crew payroll
project logistics
hardware efficiency
lower permit fees
heavier payroll
storage and EV mix
fixed overhead
Owner income rangeBefore owner reserves
Salary onlyOwner pay floor
Salary plus profit roomCore planning case
Salary plus scale roomUpside case
Best fit
Use this to stress-test a lean launch where the owner stays hands-on and distributions are thin.
Use this as the main planning case if you expect steady residential and commercial volume with a growing crew.
Use this to test a larger operation where the business can support a manager-led model and more service lines.
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Planning note: Scenario ranges are researched planning assumptions, not guaranteed earnings, salary promises, tax advice, or distributions.
Solar Power Core Six Income Drivers
Completed Installations Per Month
Completed Installations Per Month
Completed installs per month is the point where signed deals turn into revenue, cash, and owner pay. For a solar company, that means jobs that are completed, inspected, interconnected, invoiced, and collected. A full pipeline does not help income if permits, inspections, or collections lag. The model only scales when completed volume keeps pace with cash collection, not just contract signings.
Here’s the quick math: total revenue rises from $25 million in Year 1 to $147 million in Year 5. That growth only matters if crews finish jobs on time and the cash lands. If inspections stall, revenue demand can look strong while cash stays weak, which limits gross profit and the owner’s distribution capacity.
Track the Install-to-Cash Path
Measure each step monthly: signed, completed, inspected, interconnected, invoiced, and collected. The gap between those counts shows where income is getting stuck. If completed jobs are high but collections are low, owner pay should stay tight until cash timing improves.
Track installs finished per month.
Track inspection pass delays.
Track invoice-to-cash days.
Do not count signed contracts early.
Protect pay until collections clear.
Higher volume helps only when quality and timing stay tight. If crews finish more jobs but rework, failed inspections, or slow billing rise, the business can show growth on paper and still miss cash for payroll, overhead, and distributions.
Customer Acquisition Cost
Customer Acquisition Cost
Customer acquisition cost is the money spent to turn a lead into a signed solar install. It includes lead spend, sales commissions, and the sales time wasted on poor-fit prospects. In this model, sales and lead generation cost falls from 3% of revenue in Year 1 to 1% in Year 5, so the same growth can leave more cash for payroll, debt service, and owner draw.
Here’s the quick math: 3% of $25 million = $75,000 of acquisition cost in Year 1. If leads are low quality, close rates fall and sales labor rises, so the real cost per install goes up even when bookings look strong. Owner take-home improves when referrals and repeat maintenance lower the cost to land each new job.
Cut CAC by source
Track cost per lead, cost per close, close rate, paid lead quality, referral share, and the commission structure. Split results by channel so you can see which source brings signed, collected installs and which source only creates busy work. If a channel adds calls but not completed jobs, it is dragging on margin.
Use referrals and maintenance touchpoints to lower paid lead dependence. That reduces sales labor, improves cash flow, and protects profit per installation. A simple test: if a lead source needs more follow-up hours or closes at a weaker rate than the rest, tighten it or cut it before it eats owner income.
Solar Installation Crew Productivity
Crew Productivity and Owner Pay
Crew productivity is the speed from permit-ready job to passed inspection and invoice. When jobs per crew per month rise and inspection pass rate stays high, the same payroll covers more billed work, so owner draw improves. The model scales from 1 to 5 FTE crew leads and 2 to 10 FTE technicians, so idle crews quickly turn fixed labor into margin loss.
A failed inspection delays cash and adds unpaid rework hours, which hits gross margin twice. The key risk is scheduling gaps between survey, permit, install, and final pass; if those handoffs slip, revenue gets pushed out and the owner gets paid later too.
Track Readiness Before Dispatch
Track site survey readiness and permit readiness before dispatching labor. If a crew starts without clean docs and approved materials, the job often needs a second visit, which burns payroll without adding revenue. Use a daily board to flag every job that is not fully ready.
Set a target for passed inspections on the first visit and review misses by cause: design, permit, equipment, or install error. Then schedule crews only when the job is ready, because tighter flow raises gross margin, improves cash timing, and protects owner income.
Solar Installation Gross Margin
Solar Installation Gross Margin
Gross margin is the profit left after hardware, equipment, permitting, inspection fees, labor, subcontractors, warranties, and rework. In this model, hardware and equipment fall from 12% of revenue in Year 1 to 10% in Year 5, and permitting and inspection fees fall from 3% to 2%. Gross margin before sales and logistics improves from 85% to 88%, so every saved point goes straight into the profit pool.
Here’s the quick math: on $25 million of revenue, the model says a 1-point cost overrun cuts profit by $25,000. That makes margin control a cash issue, not just an accounting issue. If labor, subcontractors, or rework drift up, the owner feels it dollar for dollar before overhead is even covered.
Track Cost Leakage
Measure gross margin by job, not just month-end totals. Track revenue, hardware and equipment %, permitting and inspection %, labor, subcontractors, warranties, and rework. If one job type keeps slipping below the 85% to 88% range, reprice it or fix the install process. Margin gains matter most when crews are already busy.
Review cost % on every completed job.
Flag rework before invoicing.
Compare permits and inspections monthly.
Hold subcontractor cost per job flat.
Tighter margin raises cash available for overhead and owner draw; a leak lowers take-home income even if revenue keeps growing.
Average Project Value
Average Project Value
Average project value is the average revenue per install, built from system size, price per watt, residential ticket, commercial ticket, storage add-ons, and charger add-ons. Higher tickets can lift sales per crew hour and cash collected per job, but they do not always lift profit if design time, equipment cost, and approvals rise with the sale.
In the model, residential sales grow from $15 million to $55 million, commercial from $1 million to $5 million, storage from $0 to $25 million, and charger revenue from $0 to $700,000. That mix can raise owner income, but only if the extra ticket still clears margin and does not stretch working capital or slow collections.
Raise ticket without slowing cash
Track average project value by segment, not just total revenue. Break it into residential, commercial, storage, and charger jobs, then compare each one for gross margin, cycle time, and cash tied up before final payment. A bigger deal helps only when the extra dollars arrive faster than the added cost and delay.
Here’s the quick math: if batteries or commercial jobs increase ticket size but also add equipment cost, design time, and longer approvals, owner pay can stall. Use a simple rule: approve higher-ticket work only when it improves margin and cycle time together, so the crew finishes more profitable jobs without trapping cash in slow projects.
Track ticket by job type.
Test margin before upsells.
Watch approval and install days.
Limit cash tied up in materials.
Overhead And Cash Reserves
Overhead And Cash Reserves
Overhead and cash reserves decide how much profit the owner can safely take home. Fixed overhead is $8,700 per month, or $104,400 per year, before payroll. The model also starts with $851,000 minimum cash in Month 1, so the business needs enough working capital, meaning cash tied up in receivables, inventory, and timing gaps, to keep bills current.
That cash covers office payroll, vehicles, insurance, software, licenses, professional services, warranty reserve, debt payments, and slow customer payments. If distributions go out before inventory, payroll, and warranty coverage are funded, paper profit can turn into a cash squeeze. So owner pay should follow cash, not just booked sales.
Protect Owner Draws With Reserves
Set a monthly reserve floor at the $851,000 Month 1 cash level and do not fund draws until overhead and payroll are covered. Track fixed overhead at $8,700 a month, plus warranty reserve and debt service, so owner income is based on real cash left after obligations.
Stress test late permits and delayed payments before taking distributions. If cash is tight, cut owner draws first and review vehicles, software, and professional services spend. That keeps the business liquid and protects take-home pay when collections slip.
