[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":491},["ShallowReactive",2],{"page-\u002Fguides\u002Fhow-much-does-it-save":3,"author-mike":453},{"id":4,"title":5,"author":6,"bare":7,"body":8,"dateModified":427,"datePublished":427,"description":428,"extension":429,"howToSteps":430,"kits":430,"layout":431,"meta":432,"navigation":433,"path":434,"schemaType":435,"seo":436,"sources":437,"stem":444,"targetKeywords":445,"titleTag":450,"translationOf":451,"__hash__":452},"content\u002Fguides\u002Fhow-much-does-it-save.md","How much does balcony solar actually save in California?","mike",false,{"type":9,"value":10},"minimark",[11,18,23,26,32,35,39,46,52,58,64,70,76,82,86,263,266,269,272,276,371,374,378,384,390,396,402,406,409,412,424],[12,13,14],"answer-box",{},[15,16,17],"p",{},"Between roughly $95 and $564 a year, depending almost entirely on four things: which way it faces, whether it's angled, how much sky it sees, and whether anyone's home during the day. A well-placed 1,200-watt system in Orange County saves about $376 a year without a battery and about $564 with one. A north-facing one saves about $130, which is why we tell people not to buy those.",[19,20,22],"h2",{"id":21},"the-formula-once","The formula, once",[15,24,25],{},"Everything on this page comes from one line:",[15,27,28],{},[29,30,31],"code",{},"annual saving = sun × size × direction × tilt × shade × how much you use × your rate",[15,33,34],{},"That's it. There's no financing structure, no depreciation schedule, no tax treatment. It's arithmetic, and you can check ours.",[19,36,38],{"id":37},"the-inputs","The inputs",[15,40,41,45],{},[42,43,44],"strong",{},"Sun."," In Orange County, a kilowatt of panel at optimal tilt produces about 1,586 kilowatt-hours a year, per NREL's PVWatts data.",[15,47,48,51],{},[42,49,50],{},"Direction."," South 1.00, west 0.83, east 0.80, north 0.35.",[15,53,54,57],{},[42,55,56],{},"Tilt."," Angled toward the sun 1.00, flat 0.88, vertical on a railing 0.62.",[15,59,60,63],{},[42,61,62],{},"Shade."," Open sky 1.00, partly blocked 0.75, mostly blocked 0.45.",[15,65,66,69],{},[42,67,68],{},"How much you use."," Someone home most days 75 percent, sometimes 62 percent, empty by day 45 percent, business 90 percent, or up to 90 percent with a battery.",[15,71,72,75],{},[42,73,74],{},"Your rate."," SCE 33.2 cents including the Climate Credit as of 1 June 2026. SDG&E about 45.7 cents. PG&E about 39.25 cents.",[15,77,78,81],{},[42,79,80],{},"Exported power: zero."," SB 868 provides no compensation for what you send back.",[19,83,85],{"id":84},"nine-worked-examples","Nine worked examples",[87,88,89,108],"table",{},[90,91,92],"thead",{},[93,94,95,99,102,105],"tr",{},[96,97,98],"th",{},"#",[96,100,101],{},"Setup",[96,103,104],{},"Working",[96,106,107],{},"Annual saving",[109,110,111,128,144,160,176,192,208,224,243],"tbody",{},[93,112,113,117,120,123],{},[114,115,116],"td",{},"1",[114,118,119],{},"360W, west, railing, open, someone home, SCE",[114,121,122],{},"1,586 × 0.36 × 0.83 × 0.62 × 1.0 × 0.75 × 0.332",[114,124,125],{},[42,126,127],{},"$73",[93,129,130,133,136,139],{},[114,131,132],{},"2",[114,134,135],{},"Same, with tilt bracket",[114,137,138],{},"1,586 × 0.36 × 0.83 × 1.0 × 1.0 × 0.75 × 0.332",[114,140,141],{},[42,142,143],{},"$118",[93,145,146,149,152,155],{},[114,147,148],{},"3",[114,150,151],{},"800W, west, tilted, open, someone home, SCE",[114,153,154],{},"1,586 × 0.8 × 0.83 × 1.0 × 1.0 × 0.75 × 0.332",[114,156,157],{},[42,158,159],{},"$262",[93,161,162,165,168,171],{},[114,163,164],{},"4",[114,166,167],{},"800W, west, tilted, open, empty by day, SCE",[114,169,170],{},"same × 0.45 instead of 0.75",[114,172,173],{},[42,174,175],{},"$157",[93,177,178,181,184,187],{},[114,179,180],{},"5",[114,182,183],{},"1,200W, south, tilted, open, someone home, SCE",[114,185,186],{},"1,586 × 1.2 × 1.0 × 1.0 × 1.0 × 0.75 × 0.332",[114,188,189],{},[42,190,191],{},"$474",[93,193,194,197,200,203],{},[114,195,196],{},"6",[114,198,199],{},"Same, but partly shaded",[114,201,202],{},"1,586 × 1.2 × 1.0 × 1.0 × 0.75 × 0.75 × 0.332",[114,204,205],{},[42,206,207],{},"$355",[93,209,210,213,216,219],{},[114,211,212],{},"7",[114,214,215],{},"1,200W, north, tilted, open, someone home, SCE",[114,217,218],{},"1,586 × 1.2 × 0.35 × 1.0 × 1.0 × 0.75 × 0.332",[114,220,221],{},[42,222,223],{},"$166",[93,225,226,229,235,238],{},[114,227,228],{},"8",[114,230,231,232],{},"1,200W, south, tilted, open, someone home, ",[42,233,234],{},"SDG&E",[114,236,237],{},"rate 0.457 instead of 0.332",[114,239,240],{},[42,241,242],{},"$652",[93,244,245,248,255,258],{},[114,246,247],{},"9",[114,249,250,251,254],{},"800W, south, tilted, open, ",[42,252,253],{},"café"," open daytime, SCE",[114,256,257],{},"self-consumption 0.90",[114,259,260],{},[42,261,262],{},"$379",[15,264,265],{},"Look at rows 1 and 2. A $60 tilt bracket added $45 a year — it pays for itself in sixteen months and it's the single best purchase in this category.",[15,267,268],{},"Look at rows 3 and 4. The same equipment, same balcony, same city. The only difference is whether anyone's home. That's a 40 percent swing, and no product page will ever mention it.",[15,270,271],{},"Look at rows 5 and 8. Same everything except the utility. SDG&E customers get 38 percent more from an identical panel, because their electricity costs more.",[19,273,275],{"id":274},"what-about-payback","What about payback?",[87,277,278,292],{},[90,279,280],{},[93,281,282,284,287,289],{},[96,283,101],{},[96,285,286],{},"Kit cost",[96,288,107],{},[96,290,291],{},"Simple payback",[109,293,294,307,319,332,345,359],{},[93,295,296,299,302,304],{},[114,297,298],{},"360W starter, west railing",[114,300,301],{},"$414",[114,303,127],{},[114,305,306],{},"5.7 years",[93,308,309,312,314,316],{},[114,310,311],{},"Same plus tilt bracket",[114,313,191],{},[114,315,143],{},[114,317,318],{},"4.0 years",[93,320,321,324,327,329],{},[114,322,323],{},"800W, tilted, someone home",[114,325,326],{},"$850",[114,328,159],{},[114,330,331],{},"3.2 years",[93,333,334,337,340,342],{},[114,335,336],{},"1,200W, south, tilted",[114,338,339],{},"$1,300",[114,341,191],{},[114,343,344],{},"2.7 years",[93,346,347,350,353,356],{},[114,348,349],{},"1,200W plus 1.9 kWh battery",[114,351,352],{},"$2,200",[114,354,355],{},"$564",[114,357,358],{},"3.9 years",[93,360,361,364,366,368],{},[114,362,363],{},"1,200W, north-facing",[114,365,339],{},[114,367,223],{},[114,369,370],{},"7.8 years",[15,372,373],{},"Panels typically carry 25-year warranties. Microinverters are usually warranted 10 to 12 years, which is the number that actually constrains the lifetime economics — budget for replacing one at some point.",[19,375,377],{"id":376},"what-were-not-counting","What we're not counting",[15,379,380,383],{},[42,381,382],{},"Rate increases."," California electricity prices have risen substantially and steadily. We hold the rate flat, which makes every figure here conservative. If SCE's rate rises 4 percent a year, a $262 saving is $318 in year five.",[15,385,386,389],{},[42,387,388],{},"Degradation."," Panels lose about half a percent of output a year. Over a decade that's a 5 percent haircut. Small next to the rate increases going the other way.",[15,391,392,395],{},[42,393,394],{},"Any tax credit."," There isn't one. The federal 30 percent credit ended for expenditures after 31 December 2025.",[15,397,398,401],{},[42,399,400],{},"The fixed charge."," SCE's Base Services Charge, around $24.15 a month for non-CARE customers, doesn't move regardless of how little you buy. Solar reduces the usage part of your bill only.",[19,403,405],{"id":404},"the-honest-framing","The honest framing",[15,407,408],{},"A maxed-out 1,200-watt system covers something like 13 to 21 percent of a typical California home's annual electricity. It's a bill trimmer, not a bill killer.",[15,410,411],{},"That's not a criticism. A $400 saving a year on a $900 purchase is a better return than most things you can buy, and it repeats for twenty years. But if you're expecting your bill to halve, you've been reading somebody else's marketing.",[15,413,414,419,420],{},[415,416,418],"a",{"href":417},"\u002Fwizard","Get the figure for your own place →"," · ",[415,421,423],{"href":422},"\u002Fmethodology","How the model works →",[425,426],"sources-block",{},"2026-09-01","Between $95 and $564 a year depending on direction, tilt, and whether anyone's home. Every figure with the arithmetic shown.","md",null,"article",{},true,"\u002Fguides\u002Fhow-much-does-it-save","Article",{"title":5,"description":428},[438,441],{"title":439,"url":440,"accessed":427},"NREL PVWatts Calculator","https:\u002F\u002Fpvwatts.nrel.gov\u002F",{"title":442,"url":443,"accessed":427},"SCE Rate Advisory, June 2026","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.sce.com\u002Fsave-money\u002Frates-financing\u002Fsce-rate-advisory","guides\u002Fhow-much-does-it-save",[446,447,448,449],"how much does balcony solar save","balcony solar savings California","plug in solar payback","is balcony solar worth it","How Much Does Balcony Solar Save in California? The Math","\u002Fes\u002Fcuanto-ahorra","edMZr0yucSzQTj7aW_JI4tN4qJHRvlBhR7iD103Eses",{"id":454,"title":455,"body":456,"description":482,"email":480,"extension":429,"location":483,"meta":484,"name":462,"navigation":433,"path":485,"photo":486,"role":487,"sameAs":430,"seo":488,"stem":489,"__hash__":490},"authors\u002Fauthors\u002Fmike.md","Mike",{"type":9,"value":457},[458,464,467,471,474],[15,459,460,463],{},[42,461,462],{},"Mike Yu"," started SmallSolarCo after working out that a plug-in panel was the only kind of solar available to him — he rents in Irvine with a west-facing balcony and no roof of his own. He is not an electrician, a solar installer, or a lawyer, and the site says so wherever it matters. He has a background building web products, and built the savings model here himself, using NREL irradiance data and Southern California Edison's published rates.",[15,465,466],{},"Since September 2026 he has been running a plug-in kit on that balcony and logging what it actually produces. Every measured figure on this site comes from that kit. Everything else is labelled as an estimate.",[19,468,470],{"id":469},"editorial-independence","Editorial independence",[15,472,473],{},"We don't accept review units on terms that involve anyone approving the review first. If a manufacturer sends us a kit, we say so on the review, and we keep the right to publish a bad one.",[15,475,476,477,481],{},"Reach him at ",[415,478,480],{"href":479},"mailto:hello@smallsolarco.com","hello@smallsolarco.com",".","Mike Yu started SmallSolarCo after working out that a plug-in panel was the only kind of solar available to him — he rents in Irvine with a west-facing balcony and no roof of his own. He is not an electrician, a solar installer, or a lawyer, and the site says so wherever it matters. He has a background building web products, and built the savings model here himself, using NREL irradiance data and Southern California Edison's published rates.","Irvine, California",{},"\u002Fauthors\u002Fmike","\u002Fimages\u002Fauthors\u002Fmike.jpg","Founder",{"description":482},"authors\u002Fmike","kb0uodhMlGk_YV3nMOIXdr6bpZgtB5zNoRxdGxsXMQ8",1788387858374]