Understanding your solar billing plan
How Sunrun helps you beat California's peak summer rates
THE SBP SITUATION
Summertime changes with your utility
See the three main factors at play for Sunrun system changes this season
Summertime rate changes
Your solar billing plan* with the utility includes higher rates from June to September** than other times of the year due to increased demand due summer heat, school breaks, etc. which puts more strain on the grid.
Time of use rates (TOU)
Utility rates peak from 4–9 PM. To save you money, your system may pull from the grid even while solar is available to ensure your battery hits 100% before those expensive hours begin. This preserves your stored energy for when you need it most.
Solar export rates
Your solar exports usually earn less than what the utility charges you. However, during high-demand summer hours, the utility pays a premium for your energy. Your system is designed to capture these high-value credits whenever possible.
MINIMIZE YOUR TRUE UP BILL
Master your summer energy habits
Your Sunrun battery is smart and your habits make it even more effective. By aligning your home’s heavy energy usage with the sun, you can minimize your annual utility true-up.
Timing is everything: In the middle of the day, California’s grid is often flooded with solar energy. Because supply is high, the credits you earn for exporting during these hours are at their lowest value. To get the most out of your system, you want to use that energy yourself or save it for later in your battery.
Your battery outsmarts rates: Your smart battery is programmed to know exactly when grid energy is expensive and when exports are most valuable (typically during peak evening hours and grid sharing events). Let your battery do the heavy lifting and rest assured it has your wallet in mind.
Sync your energy-drainers with the sun: Once your home battery(ies) is full any unused solar energy will be sent straight to the grid. By doing your best to shift energy heavy activities for mid-day you can minimize low value exports to the grid and in turn extend your battery life during the evenings when you’d otherwise run these appliances
Try to run these appliances while the sun is high:
Laundry & Dishwashers: Set timers to run at noon rather than 8 p.m.
Pool Pumps: Program your cleaning cycles for midday.
EV Charging: Plug in during the day if you’re home, or use your charger’s "Solar Only"
Battery Programming
Relax, your battery is handling the heat
You have a sophisticated battery that changes behavior based on what’s in your best interest
Maximizing your credits
Adapting to your life
Distributed Power Programs
Battery changes with Calready participation
FAQs
Changes in battery behavior can be related to a few different factors, including your utility’s rate schedule and crediting methods, battery programming, Calready participation, and more. Sunrun prioritizes financial and outage protection interests in mind by managing your battery for you.
To take a closer look at your battery’s behavior, open the Sunrun app to see:
If a grid power sharing event has occurred or is upcoming
View battery charge levels under “Charts”
View battery usage under “Charts” and toggle “Show sources”
View production vs. consumption under “Charts”
Utility summer rates and crediting values is likely the largest factor in your battery’s behavior changes, other factors that might impact your battery behavior include:
Weather and daily production levels
Grid power sharing event through Calready participation
For Tesla batteries only, occasionally a maintenance discharge occurs for battery health and energy buy and sell prices can be viewed in the Tesla app
Under the Solar Billing Plan, your system doesn’t just care about using energy; it cares about the value of that energy. Sometimes, it is cheaper to buy extra power you need from the grid during the day so you can keep your battery full to use when grid energy is much more expensive. If you have a Lunar or Tesla battery, you’re more likely to see this behavior.
If you have a FranklinWH or SolarEdge battery, these systems are typically set to prioritize powering your home with your own store energy first. If you are pulling from the grid, it’s usually because your home’s immediate power demand—like running the A/C and an EV charger—exceeds the battery’s maximum output capacity. The only exception is during peak windows in August and September when the system may shift to prioritize high-value grid exports.
It’s normal for your annual true-up or settlement bill (which comes in the month when your system originally was activated) to be the largest utility bill you receive all year. While your monthly bills may have fluctuated or been low, the annual true-up is where the utility performs a final "reconciliation" of your energy exports and charges.
1. The "Net Producer" Adjustment Charge
The most common reason for a high true-up bill is the EEC Adjustment based on your Net Surplus Compensation (NSC). If you exported more total energy (kWh) to the grid over the year than you pulled from it, the utility "claws back" the higher-value credits you earned and replaces them with a lower wholesale rate. This often results in a one-time charge appearing on your 12th bill.
2. How You Used Your Solar Energy and Battery
Your true-up amount is highly dependent on how much solar energy you send to the grid and how your battery was dispatched. Customers who use as much solar energy during the day as possible and use their battery during expensive evening hours typically see smaller true-up bills than those who send a lot of extra solar energy to the grid.
Think of your monthly bill credits as "estimates" and your Settlement bill as the "final audit." To keep this number lower next year, try shifting heavy appliance use to the middle of the day when your solar production is at its peak.
Under California’s Solar Billing Plan, the utility is required to re-value your surplus energy at the end of the year. Here is why that shows up as a charge:
The Price Difference: Throughout the year, the utility gives you credits at a higher rate for your exports. However, by law, any net-excess energy (meaning you sent more energy to the grid than you used) can only be compensated at the much lower Net Surplus Compensation rate.
The Year-End Adjustment: To fix this difference, the utility applies a "True-Up Adjustment Charge" on your 12th bill. They are essentially reversing the higher credits you previously received for those excess kilowatt-hours and replacing them with the lower wholesale rate.
Why it happens: While it feels like a penalty, this charge usually only appears if you were a net overproducer (meaning you exported more energy to the grid than you imported). Most solar customers will see this adjustment as the utility "right-sizes" the value of the extra energy you sent to the grid.
You receive credit for your solar energy sent to the grid which is outlined in your monthly utility bill. But keep in mind your solar energy is most valuable when you use that energy yourself.
Solar energy self-consumption: The most valuable way to use your solar energy is by avoiding the grid entirely. When your home runs on power directly from your panels or battery, that energy never passes through the utility meter. This energy won’t appear as a “credit” or “energy exported” on your bill because the energy never reaches the grid in the first place—it’s 100% solar energy you generated and used.
Bill Credits (Exports): Any solar energy you don’t use or store is sent back to the grid and passes through the utility meter. Your monthly utility bill will show these exports in kilowatt hours (kWh) as dollar credits ($) which are used to offset charges for the utility for grid energy you consumed.
Under the Solar Billing Plan, your goal should be to use your power, not sell it. Because the utility charges more to buy energy than they pay you to export it, you help yourself the most by using your solar production at home rather than sending it back to the utility. Your Sunrun App is the best place to see energy production and usage in real-time, while your utility bill is where you track your financial export credits.
Calready is a distributed power program that your battery is likely enrolled in for the summer. Here’s how it works:
Why Calready is needed: With all the extra grid demand in the summer, there are times when the utility foresees that it cannot supply enough power to the grid.
How Calready works: Your battery joins thousands across the area to simultaneously dispatch energy to the grid during critical demand periods, preventing outages.
How you benefit from Calready: By staying enrolled in this program you are compensated at the end of the season for your battery’s participation in these community supporting events.
How to stay updated about Calready: From May-October your battery can be called upon to support the grid during a time of peak demand. Use the Sunrun App to see your battery’s participation.
Learn more about Calready.