Is Solar Worth It in California?

Still often yes, but California economics now depend much more on self-consumption, load shifting, and avoided retail rates than on generous export crediting.

Why California changed

California is no longer the easy “export to the grid and get full retail credit” market for new systems. Under the current Net Billing Tariff, export compensation is lower than historic NEM structures for many customers. That means project quality depends more on what the site can use directly or shift to higher-value hours.

Main drivers in California

How much solar is used onsite.
Retail electricity price under the real tariff.
Export credit value under the Net Billing Tariff.
Battery strategy or flexible loads that improve timing.
Installed cost and long-run maintenance.

What still makes California attractive

Retail electricity prices remain high enough that avoided purchases can still create strong value. In many cases, solar still works, but the best projects are no longer the ones that simply maximize export. They are the ones that maximize useful self-consumption.

What users should not assume

That export value still resembles older NEM economics.
That two California quotes are comparable without matching tariff assumptions.
That battery economics are automatically positive without modeling.
That a generic national calculator can capture California accurately without tariff adjustments.

Start with the United States solar calculator, then adjust tariff, self-consumption, and export value to reflect your California utility plan.

Frequently asked questions