New California rules are crushing the solar industry

California’s solar industry is facing tough times after state utility regulators changed the rules for rooftop solar last spring. KPBS environment Reporter Erik Anderson says sales are down and layoffs are up.

[boblatkey]

I bought my own system for about $12, 000, then inflated an invoice to around $24, 000 and took the 30% tax credit on that. Then after screwing the IRS a little bit I said screw you to the electric utility and my local building dept. and did not get a permit or an interconnection agreement. My battery system operates in PV self consumption mode with zero export to the grid. My system saves me about $3000 per year and therefore my payback period is under three years. Screw them all!

[philrabe]

The power companies did this in Nevada and Florida too. Hawaii also had a big problem: Too many rooftops feeding in to the 20th century grid.

[SWOBIZ]

This is great. Residential solar is parasitic on the taxpayer and grid. Net-metering is an especially bad deal: handing out top dollar for the least reliable electricity while sticking other ratepayers with cost of maintaining the grid. And since these weather based sources are unreliable, you also have to pay for reliable fossil fuel and nuclear power plants.

[modularcuriosity]

Realize that Net Energy Metering was not a California government decision. It was a HUGE lobbying process by the power companies who have massive power. Companies like PG&E, SDG&E and LADWP were all paying the retail price of energy to rooftop solar users. They lobbied so they would only have to pay the wholesale price of the power rooftop solar provides. So the payback time for new solar installations lengthened dramatically. The only financially feasible way for a homeowner to install solar now is to have a home battery and keep all the power they create.

The only good news is that if you had solar installed prior to April 2023 then you're old contract is grandfathered in for 20 more years.

[josephmclennan]

Not one dime of federal or state money should subsidy the solar industry .

[DKWalser]

You spent over four minutes discussing the deleterious affects of the new regulations without once explaining why they were adopted in the first place. The retail price power producers charge customers covers not just the cost of producing the power but also the costs of building and maintaining the transmission lines necessary to deliver power to consumers. Rooftop solar owners don't share in the costs of building and maintaining the grid. By allowing them to sell power 'back to the grid' at retail prices, rooftop solar owners were in essence charging for something they didn't deliver (the costs of building and maintaining the grid). Not only is this unfair, it forces traditional power producers to raise rates.

When there were relatively few residential rooftop solar power installations, allowing those owners to sell back to the grid at retail prices didn't create much of a problem. But, as the price of electricity increased, the incentive to install rooftop solar also increased, which created an increasing need for power companies to raise rates to cover the portion of grid costs that weren't being paid by rooftop solar producers, which led to more solar installations and more rate increases, etc. This is the problem the new regulations were designed to address.

[Adrian-opni]

So I don’t understand what was the actual change and how it affects your ability to make money as a solar company. The rules changed, the regulators made it harder how? Because there is a cap on cost? The crux of the matter was not even talked about with more thorough insight in this video.

[anoopster]

So if the industry only works if the utilities have to subsidize it then it isn't an industry, it's a handout. I got my solar when it cost twice as much today and produces a third less power than one installed today. I say the subsidies did their job perfectly--create the workforce and drive down the cost for solar adoption. Extending NEM2 would only hurt the people who couldn't afford solar regardless of incentives.

[FirmIntegritySolar]

There is a reason for this...

Solar energy in incredible at generating power... WHEN THE SUN IS OUT! But once an energy grid gets too solar heavy, you need a place to store ALL that solar energy.

Let's just say: "California has more than enough energy flowing onto their grid from noon-4pm." The law had to change to protect the reliability of the grid!

If you're a CA resident, the only solution is to start generating and storing your own power with solar + battery storage. The Utility rates are way to high.

[zombieapocalypse]

So much for California Democrats addressing Global Climate Change, it was never about that anyway.

[crosslink]

You forgot the other three factors that contribute to solar's demise. 1) insurance companies jack up rates on houses equipped with solar due to the potential from losses due to hail, wind, other factors. 2) roofing contractors and roofing materials manufacturers will void their warranties when you install solar (my roofing contractor pointed that out in the contract when I got a new roof). 3) The solar contractors screwed themselves with the lease-back scam contracts they've been pushing. After I spent some time and equipped my house with energy-efficient electric devices I got my electric bill so low that there's no way a solar system could pay for itself in cost saving over its lifetime.

[appomattoxross]

Sounds like the folly of the residential solar hot water systems of the 1980s.

[HH-ycoz]

My solar quote under 2.0 NEM was $20k, now under 3.0 NEM is $50k. Yes more bc batteries, but even the panel price went up. Makes no sense now.

[jenshobroh]

What do you get when you sell your stored excess solar from your battery?

[bvalenz]

NEM 3.0 is a ripoff… a solar system w/🔋 backup costs 2x as much as without 🔋 under 2.0 & the utilities give you 10% of what they were paying previously. The math just doesn’t add up

[parkerholden]

Based on solid economics. If you do not like net metering put in a non grid tied system. I will be dammed if I will support my net metering neighbors.

[LuisMoreno-bfhl]

I mean the industry is already propped up by the new homes solar mandate, how many subsidies do y’all want 😂

[mafpw]

Almost all economic struggles are induced by government. I so wish they all would find something else to do with their lives. They cause so much pain and suffering and accomplish so little.

[jjamespacbell]

I just installed solar and battery in Anaheim CA which has opted to keep NEM 2.0 I chose Tesla as my supplier and installer and they were great pricing was very competitive, it worked 1st time, 18 (7.25 Kw total) panels, and 2 PowerWall 3s for a total of 27Kwh storage,
I ordered the end of Nov 2023 installed mid-February 2024, I day install and they only turned off power for at most a couple of hours.
I got my 1st electric bill and it was down from $400 to $100 over the 2-month cycle very pleased especially as that included 2 weeks of grid power.

[frequentlycynical]

I hate big corporations and utilities as much as anyone, but the concept that electric companies should pay retail for what they can produce or buy for less is crazy. No business can exist on paying retail. Add that they have to maintain the grid that connects all this together, then provide grid power when many/most solar/battery installations are dead.