Written by Dean Mahmoud, CEO, and checked by Trevor Guilday, founder.Prices from the September 2026 Cost Index. Utility rules read September 29 to October 14, 2026. Updated October 14, 2026.
A typical California home system is 6.70 kW and costs about $19,095 in cash at $2.85 per watt. In our PG&E-based case it pays back in about 11.1 years: power you send out earns about 6¢, while power you use at home saves about 32.99¢. If every kWh earned 32.99¢, it would take 5.4 years.
Free for you. Solar providers pay us when you ask for quotes. How we make money
PG&E, SCE and SDG&E homes that applied to connect from April 15, 2023 are on the Solar Billing Plan, often called NEM 3.0. Each kWh your panels make is then worth one of two very different amounts. Our cases assume 40% is used at home as it is made and 60% is sent out.
| Case and export credit | Year-one savings | After upkeep | Simple payback |
|---|---|---|---|
| PG&E-based: power sent out earns about 6¢ (Solar Billing Plan, 2026) | $1,919 | $1,718 | 11.1 years |
| Comparison: every kWh worth 32.99¢, as if exports earned full price | $3,769 | $3,568 | 5.4 years |
Swipe the table sideways to see every column.
No new PG&E, SCE or SDG&E home gets the second row. It shows what the export rule costs. The more of your own solar you use, the closer you get to it, so ask any battery quote to show its added savings on its own line.
Look at the top of your bill. If a community supplier such as Clean Power Alliance also appears, the export rules still follow the utility that delivers your power.
On the Solar Billing Plan
2026 hourly credits average about 5.21¢ over solar hours, plus a 0.88¢ bonus for 2026 applications (0.44¢ in 2027). Fixed for 9 years. Plan: Electric Home (E-ELEC).
Next: ask for savings priced at PG&E’s export credits, not 32.99¢.
About 6¢ on summer days, 21¢ on summer evenings (4 to 9 p.m.) and 3¢ on winter days. Plan: TOU-D-PRIME.
Next: ask which hours the quote assumes your power goes out.
Export prices change by the hour and are fixed for 9 years. No bonus credit. Plan: EV-TOU-5.
Next: get the export prices behind the savings estimate in writing.
City utilities with their own rules
Service Rider NEM credits power you send out at your rate’s energy price, and credits carry over to later bills. Leases need a term of 10 years or more; PPAs are not allowed.
Next: check that a lease or PPA offer is allowed in Los Angeles.
Any hour or season, since June 1, 2026, on the Solar and Storage Rate. Peak hours are 5 to 8 p.m.
Next: ask for savings priced at 9.6¢ for power sent out.
The Solar Billing Plan covers PG&E, SCE and SDG&E only. Other city utilities set their own credit.
Next: get the credit and any solar fees from your utility in writing.
PG&E carries unused credits from month to month and settles your account once a year. Credits still left then are paid at its net surplus compensation rate, which resets every month: 2.74¢ per kWh for true-ups in October 2026. Clean Power Alliance pays its customers’ yearly surplus at 10% above SCE’s rate. Homes that applied by April 14, 2023 keep the older net metering, which credits power at full price, for 20 years from connection.
At the September 2026 benchmark of $2.85 per watt, tied 21st lowest among the 50 states and DC. These are modeled cash prices for solar only, not quotes we collected.
| System size | Cash price | Yearly output |
|---|---|---|
| 5 kW | $14,250 | 8,525 kWh |
| 6.70 kW (typical) | $19,095 | 11,424 kWh |
| 8 kW | $22,800 | 13,640 kWh |
| 10 kW | $28,500 | 17,050 kWh |
Under California law, the value a solar system adds to your home is left out of its property tax assessment. That covers only systems completed before January 1, 2027.
The county leaves the value solar adds out of your assessment. A battery that is part of the system counts too.
Revenue and Taxation Code section 73 ends that day. Work completed before it qualifies.
The Board of Equalization says no filing is needed to receive the exclusion.
It covers systems you own and systems you lease, until the home changes owner.
The date that counts is when the work is complete, not when you sign. A 2026 bill to extend the exclusion to 2031 for systems of 10 kW or less, AB 2389, was held in committee on May 14, 2026 and did not pass. If you are taxed on a system that qualifies, contact your county assessor.
There is no state solar tax credit, and the general SGIP battery rebate closed after December 31, 2025. What is left depends on your utility and income.
A first battery at an address with five or more Wildfire Safety outages since January 1, 2024. Apply within 12 months of switch-on and by December 31, 2026. About 165 were left on September 25, 2026.
Up to $6,000 for applications from September 23, 2026. A 13.5 kWh battery earns $3,240, after a 20% reserve.
Base battery rebate since September 1, 2026. Up to $3,500 with $1,250 for shutoff-prone areas and $250 for CARE, FERA or Medical Baseline.
Solar at no cost through GRID Alternatives, in the most disadvantaged 25% of communities at PG&E, SCE or SDG&E, through 2030.
| Way to pay | Who owns the panels | California rule to check |
|---|---|---|
| Cash | You | No federal or state credit lowers the price; property tax exclusion only if completed before January 1, 2027 |
| Loan | You | Compare the financed total with the cash price, including any dealer fee |
| Lease | The company | LADWP requires a term of 10 years or more; the yearly increase and sale rules |
| PPA | The company | Not allowed at LADWP; compare the price per kWh with the rate you avoid |
Swipe the table sideways to see every column.
California incentives by utilityWhat $0-down solar means in California
Four companies with active California contractor licenses, A to Z, not ranked. Facts from their own sites and the CSLB registry, read September 8 to October 14, 2026.
None of these four companies buys homeowner leads from EcoGen America, and the order is alphabetical. How we make money.
Ask each installer to name your rate plan and show the export credit behind its savings estimate.
Get your California solar estimateEcoGen America does not sell or install solar. When you request quotes, we pass your request to solar providers serving your area, and they pay us for the introduction. Providers can include installers, solar marketplaces and lead exchanges, and more than one may contact you. You never pay us. This is not an application to your utility’s Solar Billing Plan. Privacy policy
CEO of EcoGen America. Since 2021 he has connected homeowners with residential solar installers in all 50 states.
About Dean
Founder of EcoGen America. He has worked in residential solar since 2016 and maintains the EcoGen Solar Cost Index.
About TrevorEditorial standardsCost Index methodologyVerified Installer methodology