California Solar Panels

SGIP’s Residential Solar and Storage Equity (RSSE) offering provides incentives for eligible residential solar-and-battery projects. Published maximum rates are up to $1,100 per kWh of battery storage and $3,100 per kW of paired solar; the actual incentive is limited by eligible project costs, system-sizing rules, and program requirements.

Eligibility is generally for income-qualified California households, including households at or below 80% of area median income or customers who qualify through specified programs such as CARE, FERA, ESA, SASH, or DAC-SASH. Funding, applications, waitlists, and reservation availability vary by utility and program administrator, so confirm current availability with the SGIP administrator before signing a contract.

DAC-SASH supports rooftop solar for qualifying single-family homeowners with an incentive of $3 per CEC-AC watt. The program is designed to make solar available at no cost to eligible households, although project costs, program rules, and funding availability determine whether a particular installation can proceed. The incentive is administered through the program and is not necessarily paid as cash directly to the homeowner.

Applicants generally must own and occupy their primary residence, meet applicable CARE or FERA income criteria, and live in an eligible disadvantaged community or other qualifying area identified by the program. DAC-SASH is a solar program; do not assume that a battery is included. Check current program eligibility and enrollment status with the CPUC or its administrator.

SOMAH provides solar incentives for qualifying affordable multifamily rental housing. Published solar rates can reach $3.50 per AC watt for tenant-serving capacity and $1.19 per AC watt for common-area capacity, with lower rates applying in some circumstances when projects use specified tax credits. Eligible integrated solar-and-storage projects may receive a storage incentive of $1.10 per Wh, subject to program rules and adjustments for other incentives.

Properties generally need at least five rental units and must meet SOMAH’s affordable-housing and tenant-benefit requirements in a participating utility territory. Storage funding is not available everywhere: as of the supplied 2026 status information, storage incentives were paused in PG&E and SDG&E territories, while funds were reported available in SCE, Liberty Utilities, and Pacific Power territories. Confirm the current funding status and project eligibility with SOMAH before relying on an incentive.

DAC-GT provides qualifying residential customers a 20% discount on their otherwise applicable electric rate through a clean-energy tariff associated with a shared renewable-energy project. It is a bill discount—not a rooftop-solar or battery installation rebate—and can be relevant to renters or households that cannot install their own system.

Eligibility generally depends on meeting CARE or FERA income requirements and living in a designated disadvantaged community within a participating service area. Enrollment arrangements and availability vary by utility or community choice aggregator, so contact the electricity provider to check whether the program is offered at your address.

GoGreen Home uses credit enhancements to help participating lenders offer financing for eligible home energy improvements, including solar paired with battery storage. Program materials describe a loan-principal ceiling of up to $75,000 for solar-plus-battery projects; this is financing, not a rebate or grant, and borrowers must repay the loan.

Homeowners and renters may qualify for eligible properties and measures when served by a participating utility or community choice aggregator and using an enrolled contractor. Interest rates, fees, approval criteria, and loan terms are set by participating lenders. Confirm that the proposed solar-and-storage project and contractor qualify before applying.

California’s Active Solar Energy System New Construction Exclusion generally prevents the value attributable to a qualifying active solar energy system from increasing the property’s assessed value. This can reduce the property-tax impact of adding qualifying solar equipment, but it is an assessment exclusion rather than an upfront rebate.

The exclusion is scheduled to sunset on January 1, 2027, so it is relevant to qualifying projects in 2026. Treatment can depend on the equipment and how it is installed; the exclusion should not be assumed to cover a standalone battery. Contact the county assessor to confirm how the rules apply to a specific property and project.

California’s Sales and Use Tax Exclusion can reduce or eliminate sales/use tax on qualifying property purchased by an approved participating party or its construction contractor for an approved project. Eligible project categories can include specified alternative-energy, distributed-generation, and energy-storage technologies.

This is a project-approval program, not a blanket sales-tax exemption for a homeowner buying rooftop panels or a battery. Applicants must satisfy the program’s project, party, and approval requirements, so homeowners should not assume a residential purchase qualifies. Consult CAEATFA’s current program materials before including a tax exclusion in project economics.

The Net Billing Tariff, also called the Solar Billing Plan, governs export compensation for most new rooftop solar customers in PG&E, SCE, and SDG&E territories. Customers receive bill credits for electricity sent to the grid, but the credit value varies by when the power is exported and generally is not the old one-for-one retail-rate net-metering credit.

This tariff is a billing policy, not an installation rebate. A battery may allow a household to store solar generation and use it later instead of exporting it, but the financial result depends on the customer’s usage, rate plan, equipment, and export timing. Existing customers may remain on a legacy tariff subject to its rules; other utility territories may have different arrangements.