At a glance

Under SDG&E's Solar Billing Plan, your home uses its solar power first, and each of those kWh saves what you'd pay SDG&E at that hour. Extra power goes to the grid and earns export credits that change by month and hour. In our model of 88 SDG&E-area homes, about 43% of a typical system's output gets used at home, and the rest earns about 3.5 cents per kWh on average.

What makes SDG&E different is its price:

Average price per kWh for homes that buy their power from the utility, June 2026, before the California Climate Credit. Source: CPUC Public Advocates Office, Q2 2026 Electric Rates Report.

In federal EIA data, SDG&E's residential price averaged 43.6 cents per kWh in 2024, up from 25.8 cents in 2019. Those prices are also why SDG&E homes don't get the bonus export credit PG&E and SCE customers do: the CPUC says SDG&E customers are left out "because their solar systems generate more bill savings due to SDG&E's higher electric rates."

EV-TOU-5, the rate SDG&E solar homes are on

SDG&E says residential Solar Billing Plan customers have EV-TOU-5. It has three price periods with one price each, no baseline tiers:

Plan and seasonSuper off-peakOff-peakOn-peak
EV-TOU-5, summerJune to October13.1¢49.6¢80.2¢
EV-TOU-5, winterNovember to May12.3¢46.6¢52.4¢
TOU-DR1, summerwhat our calculator assumes before solar37.4¢46.4¢69.1¢
TOU-DR1, winter43.7¢53.1¢61.5¢

Prices per kWh for customers who buy their power from SDG&E, effective August 1, 2026. TOU-DR1 takes 10.7¢ off each kWh up to 130% of your baseline amount. Sources: SDG&E pricing plans page and total rates tables.

The cheapest hours, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on weekdays, are also when panels make the most power, so solar your home uses then saves only 12 to 13 cents. Solar that runs your home from 2 to 4 p.m. saves 47 to 50 cents, and anything that covers 4 to 9 p.m. saves 52 to 80 cents. That's why SDG&E points solar homes to batteries, and why it tells solar customers with an EV to charge after midnight and before 6 a.m.

Tall palms and tile-roofed homes on top of the sandstone sea cliffs of San Diego in warm evening light
SDG&E's own tip

"Use high energy appliances like washers, dryers, and dishwashing machines outside of on-peak hours of 4 p.m. to 9 p.m."

The switch itself saves money for many homes. In our model, moving a typical home from TOU-DR1 to EV-TOU-5 cuts its energy charges by about 6.1 cents per kWh used, before any solar, because so many hours fall in the 12 to 13 cent period. SDG&E describes EV-TOU-5 as designed for homes that charge an EV and homes on the Solar Billing Plan. Our savings figures include the switch.

What SDG&E pays for solar you send to the grid

SDG&E posts an hourly price list for each year's new solar homes, with weekday and weekend values for every month. A home is locked into the price schedule for the year it applied, for nine years from its permission to operate. The 2026 schedule's weekday averages for two windows:

A solar-only home sends most of its extra power out around midday, when SDG&E's credits are lowest: 0.5 cents per kWh on April weekdays, and no more than about 6 cents in any month. Summer evenings are another story. On August weekdays, credits average 79 cents from 4 to 9 p.m., and the 6 to 7 p.m. hour pays $1.07. A battery that saves midday solar for those hours earns far more for the same kWh, though SDG&E limits the export credits a home with a battery can earn each month, based on system size and climate zone.

The credit has a generation part and a delivery part; at midday, 99% of it is generation. If San Diego Community Power or Clean Energy Alliance buys your power, that provider sets your generation prices and generation credits, and SDG&E sets only the delivery part. Our figures use SDG&E's own prices.

Reading your SDG&E solar bill

SDG&E bills Solar Billing Plan homes every month. When your credits are bigger than your charges, the extra rolls to the next month. The parts, from SDG&E's own bill guide:

What's on a monthly SDG&E solar billSolar Billing Plan, due every month
1Base Services ChargeAbout $24 a month, $12 on FERA and $6 on CARE. Export credits can't pay it.
2Generation and delivery import chargesThe power you used from the grid, priced by the EV-TOU-5 hour it came in.
3Generation export creditsCan pay only generation import charges.
4Delivery export creditsCan pay only delivery import charges. Unused ones are banked for later bills.
5Non-bypassable chargesSmall charges every customer pays for public programs. Credits can't pay them either.
6Year-to-date summaryRunning totals for the year and an Estimated Annual True-Up Adjustment.

SDG&E's solar FAQ still mentions a "$16 basic monthly service fee." Its Base Services Charge page says that charge replaced the fixed monthly fee on EV-TOU-5, so the two aren't added together.

The annual true-up

Every 12 months SDG&E sends a true-up bill. If you used more power from the grid than you sent out over the year, the adjustment is zero. If you sent out more, SDG&E takes back the credits for the extra kWh at the average export rate for all Solar Billing Plan customers over the past year, and pays for them instead with an Excess Generation Payment based on a 12-month average of market prices.

SDG&E's adjustment price for September 2026 was 11.0 cents per extra kWh (8.67 cents generation, 2.33 delivery). The CPUC puts net surplus pay at about 2 to 3 cents, so power beyond your yearly use ends up worth very little. Size the system to your use: SDG&E lets Solar Billing Plan homes go up to 50% larger than the past 12 months of use only if they attest to a matching rise in use within 12 months of connecting.

Savings and payback for SDG&E homes

Three homes with San Diego's sun, each with a system sized to 85% of its yearly use and no battery. The tubes show payback at the median price SDG&E-area homeowners reported for solar-only systems approved from January to August 2026, $5.37 a watt; a quarter paid $3.95 or less and a quarter $6.90 or more.

The systems are 2.4, 3.7 and 5.3 kW, and they save $710, $1,310 and $2,110 in the first year. "Across prices" means from $3.95 to $6.90 a watt.

Tubes run from 0 to 20 years. Bills include the Base Services Charge. Savings from our model of 88 SDG&E-area homes on EV-TOU-5 with 2026 export credits; rates rise 3% a year, export credits are held flat, panels lose 0.5% a year. Prices: California DG Stats, host-owned solar-only SDG&E systems, January to August 2026.

Each kWh of solar saves more at SDG&E than at PG&E or SCE in our model, about 24 cents, but systems there cost more too: the median solar-only system was 4.85 kW and $27,938 in the same data.

Neighboring tile roofs with three different looks: silver-framed panels, all-black panels and two flat solar water-heating collectors

Older solar homes and buyers

Under CPUC rules, homes that went solar before the Solar Billing Plan can stay on net metering for 20 years from when the system was first connected. SDG&E says that when the 20 years end, the account moves to the Solar Billing Plan, and if you bought a home with solar, the clock started when the panels were first connected, not when you moved in. The CPUC says homes that move over from net metering don't get the nine-year price lock, and the lock belongs to the customer who first connected the system.

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Common questions

How much does SDG&E pay for solar in 2026?

It depends on the month and hour. For homes that applied in 2026, weekday credits from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. run from about 0.5 cents per kWh in April to about 6 cents in January, and 4 to 9 p.m. credits average 79 cents on August weekdays. Weighted by when homes export, our model puts the average at about 3.5 cents. There's no bonus credit at SDG&E.

What rate plan do SDG&E solar customers have?

SDG&E says residential Solar Billing Plan customers have EV-TOU-5. Since August 1, 2026, it costs 13.1 cents super off-peak, 49.6 cents off-peak and 80.2 cents from 4 to 9 p.m. in summer, and 12.3, 46.6 and 52.4 cents in winter.

Does SDG&E have a solar true-up?

Yes. Every 12 months SDG&E sends a true-up bill. If you sent more power to the grid than you used from it over the year, the credits for the extra kWh are taken back and paid instead at a market-based rate. If you didn't, the adjustment is zero.

Can SDG&E export credits pay the Base Services Charge?

No. The Base Services Charge, about $24 a month for most customers, and the non-bypassable charges can't be paid with export credits. Generation credits pay only generation charges, and delivery credits only delivery charges.

Why don't SDG&E customers get the solar bonus credit?

The CPUC left SDG&E customers out of the bonus export credit because their solar systems generate more bill savings due to SDG&E's higher electric rates.

SDG&E'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: SDG&E: Solar Billing Plan · SDG&E: Understanding Your Solar Bill · SDG&E: export pricing · SDG&E pricing plans · SDG&E EV-TOU-5 rates · SDG&E: Base Services Charge · CPUC: net metering and net billing · CPUC Public Advocates Office · California DG Stats · EIA Form 861. Reviewed October 2026.

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