Will it work with time-of-use rates?

What a time-of-use plan is

Instead of one price for electricity, you pay different prices at different hours. Most California residential customers are now on one.

Rates as published in 2026 and subject to change. Check your own bill — this is a guide, not a quote.

Look at the SCE numbers. The most expensive electricity of the day costs more than twice the cheapest. That ratio is the whole game.

The mismatch, stated plainly

A panel produces a bell curve peaking around solar noon and effectively finished by 6pm in summer, earlier in winter. The peak rate window starts at 4pm and runs to 9pm.

So on a time-of-use plan, most of what your panel makes displaces cheap off-peak electricity, and the expensive hours arrive after it's stopped.

Four ways to close the gap

1. Face west. A west-facing panel shifts its production two to three hours later than a south-facing one. It makes about 17 percent less power overall but puts more of it inside the expensive window. On a time-of-use plan this frequently nets out in west's favour.

2. Move a load into daylight. The cheapest fix by a distance, because it's free. Set the dishwasher to run at 1pm instead of 8pm. Run the washing machine at lunchtime. If you have a heat pump water heater or a pool pump on a timer, move it. Every kilowatt-hour you shift from the 58-cent window to the panel's production window is worth more than any equipment upgrade.

3. Pre-cool. In summer, running the air conditioning harder at 2pm and coasting through the evening moves consumption into your production window and out of the peak. It works, it's free, and the house is more comfortable at 6pm anyway.

4. Buy a battery. The equipment answer. It stores the midday surplus and releases it at 6pm. It works well, and it costs $800 to $1,500. More.

Should you change rate plan?

Possibly, and it's free to find out. If you're not home during the day and you're on a plan with a punishing evening peak, you may be on the wrong plan regardless of solar. Utilities publish rate comparison tools that use your own usage history.

Do that first. Switching plans is free and can be worth more than a small panel. Then buy the panel, knowing which rate you're actually working against.

The wrinkle to watch: SCE's TOU-D-PRIME has lower energy rates but a higher monthly charge, around $24 a month. It's designed for households with solar, batteries, EVs or heat pumps. For a 400-watt balcony panel and nothing else, the fixed charge usually swamps the benefit. Run the numbers on your own usage before switching to it.

What it means for your savings figure

Our calculator uses a blended average rate by default — 33.2 cents for SCE — rather than modelling your specific plan hour by hour. That's deliberate: most people don't know their rate plan, and a blended figure is the honest middle.

If you're on a time-of-use plan with a west-facing panel and you're home in the afternoons, our figure understates what you'll get. If you're on a time-of-use plan with an east-facing panel and an empty flat, it overstates it.

Utility-specific pages → · What would yours save? →