Los Angeles, CA Solar Panels

California’s Property Tax Exemption for solar energy systems protects homeowners from paying additional property taxes when they install solar panels. Normally, home improvements that increase your property’s value result in higher property tax bills. However, this state tax exemption ensures that any added value from your solar installation is excluded from your property tax assessment. This means you can enjoy the increased home value that solar panels provide without seeing your annual property tax bill go up.

The financial benefit varies based on your home’s location and the size of your solar system, but it can save you hundreds of dollars annually. For example, if your solar installation adds $20,000 to your home’s value and your property tax rate is 1.25%, you would save $250 per year in property taxes. This exemption is available to all California homeowners who install active solar energy systems on their property. The exemption applies to both new construction and existing homes, and it remains in effect as long as you own the home with the solar system installed. There’s no application deadline, making this a reliable long-term benefit for anyone considering solar energy in California.

The Disadvantaged Communities Single-Family Affordable Solar Homes (DAC-SASH) Program is a California state initiative designed to make solar energy accessible to homeowners in disadvantaged communities. This program provides upfront financial incentives to help offset the cost of installing a solar energy system, making clean energy more affordable for qualifying households.

The program offers up to $3 per watt in capacity-based incentives. For example, if you install a 5-kilowatt solar system, you could receive up to $15,000 in upfront incentives to reduce your installation costs.

To qualify for DAC-SASH, you must meet all of the following requirements: own and live in your home, receive electrical service from Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), Southern California Edison (SCE), or San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E), be enrolled in or eligible for the CARE or FERA income-qualified utility bill assistance programs, and have your property located in a designated disadvantaged community (DAC) area.

If you think you might qualify for this program, you can visit the GRID Alternatives website to learn more about eligibility requirements and how to apply. This incentive can significantly reduce the upfront cost of going solar, making it an excellent opportunity for eligible homeowners to access clean, renewable energy.

The Equity Fund is a California state program that provides rebates for home battery storage systems to low-income residents. Established in 2022 through Assembly Bill 209, this $630 million fund operates under the Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP) to help make clean energy storage more accessible to qualifying households.

Eligible homeowners can receive rebates of $150, $850, or $1,000 per kilowatt-hour of battery capacity installed, depending on their specific circumstances. The higher rebate amounts ($850-$1,000/kWh) are available to customers enrolled in California’s CARE or FERA utility discount programs, residents of Disadvantaged Communities, members of California Tribal communities, and those living in areas with high fire risk or frequent power outages. To qualify, you must be enrolled in or eligible for the CARE/FERA programs, live in a designated Disadvantaged Community, or reside in a California Tribal area. Your home must also receive electrical service from Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), Southern California Edison (SCE), or San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E).

This program pairs well with California’s NEM 3.0 net billing program, where battery storage becomes especially valuable for maximizing your solar energy savings. Customers in CARE or FERA programs also receive ongoing electric bill discounts of approximately 35% and 18% respectively. Since rebate amounts and availability can change, it’s important to check current rates and funding availability when planning your battery storage installation.

Net Billing in California is a program that credits you for the excess solar energy your system sends back to the electric grid. Unlike older net metering programs that gave you full retail credit, Net Billing (also called “NEM 3”) provides export credits based on the time of day and the utility’s avoided cost—essentially what it would have cost them to generate that power. The credit value changes every hour, with higher rates typically during peak demand periods and lower rates during times when solar production is abundant.

The financial benefit varies significantly by utility and timing. For the three major investor-owned utilities (PG&E, SCE, and SDGE), export rates are calculated hourly using each utility’s Avoided Cost Calculator. At the end of your annual true-up period, any remaining credits are paid out at approximately 3-5 cents per kWh. Imperial Irrigation District offers a simpler monthly settlement at $0.0698 per kWh, while SMUD provides 7.4 cents per kWh for all exported energy. LADWP operates differently as a municipal utility, offering traditional 1:1 net metering where credits roll over indefinitely as dollar credits on your account.

Net Billing (NEM 3) applies to new interconnection applications submitted on or after April 15, 2023 for PG&E, SCE, and SDGE customers. If your application was submitted before this date, you may be grandfathered under the more favorable NEM 2.0 program—but be careful, as increasing your system size or decreasing it by more than 20% will move you to NEM 3. Because export credits under NEM 3 are significantly lower than retail electricity rates, pairing your solar system with battery storage has become increasingly important to maximize your savings by storing energy for use during expensive peak hours rather than exporting it at lower rates.