Understanding Your Bill With Solar

How to find out how much you’re saving

Since saving money is one of the biggest reasons for going solar, homeowners often ask us how they can tell just how much money they’re saving by producing their own energy. The answer is that you can calculate the return you’re getting on your solar investment fairly easily, but exactly how you go about it depends on your solar billing structure and understanding how your utility company structures the information in your monthly billing statements.

The main difference between solar billing structures is how you’re compensated for “surplus” energy produced by your solar panels which was sent back to the utility grid because you didn’t need to use it. People living in some areas may also be subject to “time of use” billing or “demand charges” which are theoretically meant to reduce strain on the utility grid. You can find out more about all of this and how solar can help you save under different types of billing structures in this blog post.

Beyond this, seeing how much you’re saving with solar is simply a matter of understanding the way that different utility companies organize their billing statements. It would be impossible for us to cover each of the utilities in all of the states we operate in here. Fortunately, most of the major utilities in California where we’re currently doing solar installations already have guides to interpreting your bill.

CALIFORNIA

• Pacific Gas & Electric
• Southern California Edison 
• Los Angeles Department of Water & Power
• San Diego Gas & Electric 
• Sacramento Municipal Utility District
• Glendale Water and Power

Conclusion

Calculating the return on investment of solar panels and understanding how much you’re saving is essential in maximizing the benefits of solar energy. Your solar billing structure and utility company billing statements play a crucial role in this process. By understanding the different types of solar billing structures and how utility companies organize their billing statements, you can easily calculate your savings. While it may be impossible to cover every utility company in all states, most major utilities in California have guides to interpreting your bill. Going solar not only benefits the environment, but it can also save you money in the long run.