If you are a homeowner ready to install solar or a home battery system, then California’s Solar Incentive Program is here for you! California leads the county in solar energy and has more solar capacity than any other state. The second closest state is Arizona, and California has almost six times more solar and is quickly becoming a leader in energy storage. It’s about to become a lot easier for homeowners to access solar thanks to the Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP). Now you can even get a rebate for most or all of your solar battery installation in California.
Established back in 2001, the energy storage rebate program in California is referred to as the Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP). This rebate includes a variety of technologies including energy storage, fuel cells, and heat and power generators.
Qualify For A Free Home Battery
When you install a home battery and are a customer of PG&E, SCE, SCG, or SDG&E you’re eligible for an incentive as high as $250 per kilowatt-hour (kWh). That covers the majority of the battery costs. The size of the battery you purchase will determine the value of the per-kWh incentive and will eventually be reduced as more batteries are installed in California.
The NeoVolta NV14 Solar Home Battery
For example, under SGIP step 5, the top of the line NeoVolta 14.4kW home battery, you’re eligible for an incentive rate of $250/kWh, which is worth a total of $3,490. This incentive is enough to cover a huge chunk of the cost of the NeoVolta system. Currently, the NV14 is priced around $11,000.
Additional charges including other hardware, shipping, installation, and taxes will range from $2,000 to $4,000 however, if necessary, electrical upgrades permit fees or any connection charges can add another $1,500-$3,000 to installed costs. The good news is that in most cases, the NeoVolta battery is also eligible for the federal investment tax credit (ITC), which reduces prices by a further 26 percent. In all, when you combine the SGIP incentive and federal ITC, you can expect to reduce the cost by almost half.
In the past, most of the funds were used for fuel cells, solar or other forms of energy production. Every year more than $62 million is designated specifically for energy storage. Homeowners who want to install batteries with their solar panels will be able to do so as 15% of the funds are marked specifically for residential use.
Who Qualifies?
Due to the threat of wildfires in California and the increased frequency of Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS) in the state. The California Public Utility Commission’s decision to allocate additional funds under the Solar Generation Incentive Program to provide affordable home batteries to homeowners who are at the most risk of blackouts and power shutoffs.
Out of the $1.056 billion budget, 60% of this incentive program is set aside for “Equity Resiliency”. To qualify for these funds homeowners must meet one of the following criteria:
- Low-Income
- Homeowners In High-Risk Fire Areas
- Homeowners who have experienced a Public Safety Power Shutoff event on two or more distinct occasions
- Medical facilities that provide services to these affected areas
At a $1 per kW incentive rate for qualified Equity Resilience homeowners, the $613 million in incentives will fund anywhere from 45,000 and 60,000 batteries for the disadvantaged homeowners in high-fire risk areas.
Homeowners who live in these areas and are eligible for the Equity Resilience incentives, adding battery storage should be a no brainer. The Equity Resilience incentive is now at $1 per kW! This means it should cover the entire installed cost of most home battery systems available on the market today.
The ability to store energy is especially interesting for homeowners with solar. Having a battery backup system installed in addition to solar panels allows you to store your excess solar power instead of sending it back to the grid. This is a great way to balance out your daily power production and use.
Home Batteries & Net Metering
Homeowners who currently fall under California’s original net metering policy receive bill credits for the excess solar power they send back onto the grid. However, the state has now switched to net metering 2.0, which requires all new solar homeowners to switch to time-of-use (TOU) rates. If you are under TOU rates, the cost of electricity varies by the time of the day, with evenings usually being the most expensive, when power demand is higher. By installing a home battery system along with solar panels you are able to store the excess solar power generated when the utility rates are cheaper and use it at night when rates go up.
Also, when you instore a battery backup system, you have protection against a power outage. Just be aware that most home battery systems are designed to store a few hours of electricity, and won’t supply a home at full power for multiple days.
With SGIP, Southern California homeowners can install a battery backup system with their solar system with little to no additional cost. When you combine the solar tax credit at 26% percent along with the SGIP savings, homeowners can potentially cut their costs in half.
If you’re ready to start talking about solar options, give the energy experts at SunPro Solar a call at 951-678-7733 or fill out the form below to get a free, no-obligation estimate.