Los Angeles, CA

California’s Property Tax Exemption for Solar (officially called the Active Solar Energy System Exclusion) prevents homeowners from paying higher property taxes when they install solar panels. When you add solar to your home, the county assessor will not increase your property tax assessment, even though you’ve added value to your property.

This is not technically an exemption but rather a “new construction exclusion” – meaning the solar system is simply not counted when determining your home’s taxable value. The exclusion applies to all qualifying solar energy systems that generate electricity or heat water (except for solar swimming pool heaters and hot tub heaters). The financial benefit varies based on your system’s value but can save homeowners thousands of dollars over the life of their solar installation.

All California property owners are eligible for this tax benefit, regardless of residency status. There’s no application needed if you add solar to your existing home – the exclusion is automatically applied when the assessor receives your building permit. However, if you’re purchasing a newly built home with solar already installed, you’ll need to file form BOE-64-SES with your county assessor to claim the exclusion.

This valuable incentive is currently set to expire on January 1, 2027, so solar systems installed through the 2025-26 fiscal year will qualify. The exclusion remains in effect for the life of your system, even after the program sunset date.

The Disadvantaged Communities Single-Family Affordable Solar Homes (DAC-SASH) Program is a California state initiative designed to make solar energy accessible to lower-income homeowners in disadvantaged communities. This program provides substantial upfront incentives to qualified homeowners, offering up to $3 per watt to offset the cost of installing a solar energy system. These incentives can significantly reduce the initial investment required to go solar, making clean energy more affordable for those who might otherwise be unable to access it.

To qualify for the DAC-SASH program, homeowners must meet several specific requirements: you must own and live in your home, receive electrical service from one of California’s major utilities (PG&E, SCE, or SDG&E), be enrolled in or eligible for the CARE or FERA income-qualified utility bill programs, and your property must be located in a designated disadvantaged community area. If you think you might be eligible, you can visit the GRID Alternatives website for more information and to apply for the program. This valuable incentive works alongside other available solar benefits like the federal tax credit, helping to make solar energy more equitable and accessible across California.

The California Equity Fund is a state program designed to make clean energy more accessible to low-income households. Created under Assembly Bill 209 in 2022, this program allocates $630 million to support battery storage incentives for qualifying Californians, addressing previous criticisms that clean energy programs primarily benefited higher-income households.

Eligible homeowners can receive substantial rebates for battery storage installations at rates of $150, $850, or $1,000 per kilowatt-hour, depending on specific qualifications. To qualify, you must be enrolled in California’s CARE/FERA program, live in a Disadvantaged Community, or be part of a California Tribal community. Additionally, those in fire-prone areas or regions with frequent power outages may qualify for higher rebate amounts. CARE program participants also receive approximately 35% off their electric bills, while FERA participants receive about 18% off.

This program works alongside California’s NEM 3.0 net billing program, providing qualifying low-income customers with enhanced net billing credits when they export excess solar energy to the grid. By combining these incentives, the Equity Fund helps make renewable energy systems more affordable for communities that have historically had less access to clean energy benefits.

California’s Net Billing program (also known as NEM 3) is a solar incentive structure that began on April 15, 2023 for new solar installations. Unlike previous net metering programs, Net Billing compensates solar homeowners for excess electricity sent to the grid based on hourly export credits that vary by utility and time of day. The value of these credits is calculated using each utility’s Avoided Cost Calculator, which determines rates based on the grid’s avoided costs at different times.

For most major California utilities including PG&E, SCE, and SDG&E, any unused credits are paid out annually during your selected anniversary month at approximately 3-5 cents per kilowatt-hour. Imperial Irrigation District settles excess credits monthly at a rate of $0.0698/kWh. It’s important to note that homeowners who submitted complete interconnection applications before April 14, 2023 may still qualify for the more favorable NEM 2.0 program, but any system size increases or decreases of more than 20% will result in being moved to the Net Billing program. Municipal utilities like LADWP maintain their own net metering policies and aren’t subject to the NEM 3 changes.