Sunprint
At a glance
Under SCE's Solar Billing Plan, your home uses its solar power first, and each of those kWh saves what you'd pay SCE at that hour. Extra power goes to the grid and earns an Energy Export Credit, which SCE says is higher on summer evenings and lower at midday and in the winter months. In our model of 110 SCE-area homes, about 43% of a typical system's output gets used at home, and the rest earns about 6.2 cents per kWh on average, bonus credit included.
SCE's prices are why it still works: its bundled residential price averaged 32.4 cents per kWh in 2024 in federal EIA data, double the 16.2 cents of 2019, and SCE puts its average residential rate at 34.4 cents since June 1, 2026.
What SCE pays for solar you send to the grid
SCE publishes an hourly price file, and it also posts seasonal averages on its Solar Billing Plan page. For homes that started in 2026:
Daytime is when solar panels send the most power to the grid, so the 3 and 6 cent figures are the ones that count most for a solar-only home. The evening values are why SCE suggests a battery: storing midday solar for the 4 to 9 p.m. window is worth several times more. Your credits are locked for nine years from the year you began using solar. The averages SCE lists by starting year:
| Started | Summer | Winter | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day | Evening | Overnight | Day | Evening | Overnight | |
| 2023 | 5¢ | 23¢ | 7¢ | 3¢ | 5¢ | 4¢ |
| 2024 | 5¢ | 23¢ | 7¢ | 3¢ | 5¢ | 4¢ |
| 2025 | 6¢ | 21¢ | 12¢ | 3¢ | 9¢ | 10¢ |
| 2026 | 6¢ | 21¢ | 12¢ | 3¢ | 10¢ | 10¢ |
Day 6 a.m. to 4 p.m., evening 4 to 9 p.m., overnight 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. Source: SCE Solar Billing Plan page.
If Clean Power Alliance or another community choice provider supplies your power, SCE's tariff says SCE pays only the delivery part of the credit, and your provider pays the generation part.
The bonus credit is smaller than SCE's page says
SCE adds an Energy Export Bonus Credit on every kWh sent to the grid for nine years. Its Solar Billing Plan page says the bonus is "about $0.04 per kWh," but that's the value for homes that started in 2023. SCE's own tariff lowers it each year:
| Starting year | Bonus per kWh | Income-qualified |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 4.0¢ | 9.3¢ |
| 2024 | 3.2¢ | 7.4¢ |
| 2025 | 2.4¢ | 5.6¢ |
| 2026 | 1.6¢ | 3.7¢ |
| 2027 | 0.8¢ | 1.9¢ |
| 2028 on | None | None |
Source: SCE Schedule NBT. To qualify, the system's original permission to operate must come by December 31, 2027.
The tariff also lets the bonus pay other parts of your bill, including fixed charges, which regular export credits can't.
TOU-D-PRIME, the rate solar homes move to
SCE says Solar Billing Plan customers are on TOU-D-PRIME. Compared with TOU-D-4-9PM, which our calculator assumes you're on before solar, PRIME has no baseline credit but lower prices outside the evening peak:
Prices per kWh for customers who buy their power from SCE, rounded to the cent as SCE shows them. Summer is June to September. Source: SCE time-of-use plans page, checked October 29, 2026.
For a typical home in our model, the switch to PRIME by itself trims the energy charges a little, about 1.3 cents per kWh used, before any solar. Our savings figures include it.
Your monthly bill and the annual settlement
You get an SCE bill every month: the Base Services Charge (about $24 a month for most customers, $12 on FERA and $6 on CARE), what you used from the grid at TOU-D-PRIME prices, minus your export credits. SCE says the credits can't pay the Base Services Charge or taxes.
Once a year, in the month your system started, SCE sends a settlement bill. It compares the year's power from the grid, power sent to the grid and credits. If you sent out more kWh than you used from the grid, the credits for the extra kWh are taken back and show as an "EEC Adjustment," and the extra power instead earns Net Surplus Compensation. SCE's own example: a home that used 900 kWh from the grid and sent out 1,000 kWh keeps the credits for 900, and the other 100 are settled at the surplus rate. Sizing the system to your use avoids that.
Savings and payback for SCE homes
Three homes with San Bernardino's sun, each with a system sized to 85% of its yearly use and no battery. Payback is shown at the prices SCE-area homeowners reported for solar-only systems approved from January to August 2026: a quarter paid $2.55 a watt or less, half $3.05 or less, three quarters $4.17 or less.
| Home | Bill before | First-year savings | System | At $2.55/W | At $3.05/W | At $4.17/W |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smaller home4,500 kWh a year | $136 | $510 | 2.4 kW | 11 yrs | 13 yrs | 17 yrs |
| Typical home7,000 kWh a year | $214 | $950 | 3.7 kW | 10 yrs | 11 yrs | 15 yrs |
| Larger home10,000 kWh a year | $311 | $1,530 | 5.3 kW | 9 yrs | 10 yrs | 13 yrs |
Bills include the Base Services Charge. Savings from our model of 110 SCE-area homes on TOU-D-PRIME with 2026 export credits and the 1.6¢ bonus; rates rise 3% a year, export credits are held flat, panels lose 0.5% a year. Prices: California DG Stats, host-owned solar-only SCE systems, January to August 2026.
SCE-area prices in that data run lower than PG&E's and SDG&E's, and solar-only systems there were smaller, a median of 3.6 kW. Most new SCE solar homes added a battery: about seven in ten in the same data, at PG&E and SCE combined.
Buying or selling a home with solar
The nine-year lock belongs to the customer who put the system in. SCE says a buyer who moves into a home with solar on the Solar Billing Plan gets the current year's export prices, and its tariff says a new occupant doesn't get the bonus credit. If you're buying, ask for the system's permission to operate date and the seller's last settlement bill.
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Common questions
How much does SCE pay for solar in 2026?
SCE's average export credit values for homes that started in 2026 are 6 cents per kWh in summer daytime, 21 cents on summer evenings and 12 cents overnight, and 3, 10 and 10 cents the rest of the year, plus a 1.6-cent bonus credit for nine years. Weighted by when homes export, our model puts the average at about 6.2 cents.
What rate do SCE solar customers have to use?
SCE says Solar Billing Plan customers are on TOU-D-PRIME. Its highest prices are 4 to 9 p.m.: 61 cents on summer weekdays, 39 cents on summer weekends and 45 cents in winter, with 24 to 30 cents most other hours.
What is the SCE solar settlement bill?
Once a year, in the month your system started, SCE compares your power from the grid, power sent out and credits. If you sent out more kWh than you used from the grid, credits for the extra kWh are adjusted and that surplus earns Net Surplus Compensation instead.
Is SCE's solar bonus credit 4 cents?
Only for homes that started in 2023. SCE's tariff sets it at 1.6 cents per kWh for 2026 and 0.8 cents for 2027, for nine years, and none after that.
Do SCE solar customers pay the Base Services Charge?
Yes. It's about $24 a month for most SCE customers, $12 on FERA and $6 on CARE, and SCE says export credits can't pay it.
Related guides
- California solar calculator
- NEM 3.0 in California, explained
- Is solar worth it in California?
- Why is my SCE bill so high?
- Your solar true-up bill
- Solar batteries in California
SCE's rates and export credits change; the figures here are for 2026. Model figures are estimates for typical homes, not a quote for yours. Sources: SCE: Solar Billing Plan · SCE: understanding export pricing · SCE Schedule NBT · SCE time-of-use plans · SCE: Base Services Charge · SCE rate advisory · California DG Stats · EIA Form 861. Reviewed October 2026.
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