Oakland, 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 technically improved your property with something of value.

This exclusion applies to most solar electric systems that generate electricity for your home. The financial benefit is significant – you avoid paying property taxes on the full value of your solar system for the life of the installation. For a typical residential solar system worth $20,000, this could save you approximately $200-300 annually in property taxes, depending on your local tax rate.

To qualify, your system must be an active solar energy system that collects, stores, or distributes solar energy. Swimming pool heaters and hot tub heaters are specifically excluded. There’s no application required for existing homeowners – the exclusion is automatically applied when the assessor receives your building permit.

If you’re purchasing a newly built home with solar already installed, you may qualify for the exclusion as the initial purchaser if the home was completed after January 1, 2008, and the builder didn’t receive the exclusion. In this case, you’ll need to file form BOE-64-SES with your county assessor.

This valuable incentive is currently set to expire on January 1, 2027, so systems installed before this date will benefit from the exclusion. 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 low-income homeowners in disadvantaged communities. This program provides substantial upfront incentives of up to $3 per watt to help offset the cost of installing a solar energy system, making clean energy more affordable for families who might otherwise be unable to participate in California’s clean energy transition.

To qualify for the DAC-SASH program, homeowners must meet several eligibility 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 qualify, you can visit the GRID Alternatives website for more information about the application process and to confirm your eligibility.

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 initiative allocates $630 million to support battery storage incentives for qualifying Californians, addressing previous criticisms that solar 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 enrolled in CARE or FERA programs receive enhanced net billing credits under NEM 3.0, with CARE participants getting approximately 35% off their electric bills and FERA participants receiving about 18% off.

The program particularly benefits residents in areas with higher fire risks, more frequent power outages, or those participating in the DAC-SASH program. For specific eligibility requirements and application details, homeowners should contact their utility provider or visit the California Public Utility Commission website.

California’s Net Billing program (also known as NEM 3) is a solar incentive structure that replaced the previous Net Energy Metering 2.0 program for most major utilities in the state. Under this program, when your solar panels produce excess electricity that flows back to the grid, you receive credits on your utility bill based on the time and value of that electricity. Unlike previous programs that credited solar exports at retail rates, Net Billing values exports based on the utility’s avoided costs.

For customers of Pacific Gas & Electric (PGE), Southern California Edison (SCE), and San Diego Gas & Electric (SDGE), the export credit values change hourly based on the grid’s needs, using each utility’s Avoided Cost Calculator. Imperial Irrigation District (IID) offers a fixed rate of $0.0698 per kWh with monthly settlement. Any unused credits during your annual true-up period are typically paid out at approximately 3-5 cents per kWh for the major utilities. Notably, municipal utilities like LADWP maintain more favorable 1:1 net metering policies, while SMUD offers a fixed export rate of 7.4 cents per kWh.

To qualify for Net Billing, your solar system must have submitted an interconnection application after April 15, 2023. If you submitted a complete application before this date, you may be grandfathered into the more favorable NEM 2.0 program. However, be aware that modifying an existing NEM 2.0 system by increasing its size or decreasing it by more than 20% will result in being moved to the Net Billing program.

An important consideration for homeowners is that Net Billing offers lower compensation rates than previous net metering programs, which may extend the payback period for your solar investment. However, you can maximize your benefits by using more of your solar electricity directly in your home rather than exporting it to the grid. Additionally, Net Billing customers can now select their annual true-up month by contacting their utility, allowing for more flexibility in managing your solar credits.