[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":265},["ShallowReactive",2],{"page-\u002Fguides\u002Ftime-of-use-rates":3,"author-mike":228},{"id":4,"title":5,"author":6,"bare":7,"body":8,"dateModified":203,"datePublished":203,"description":204,"extension":205,"howToSteps":206,"kits":206,"layout":207,"meta":208,"navigation":209,"path":210,"schemaType":211,"seo":212,"sources":213,"stem":220,"targetKeywords":221,"titleTag":226,"translationOf":206,"__hash__":227},"content\u002Fguides\u002Ftime-of-use-rates.md","Will it work with time-of-use rates?","mike",false,{"type":9,"value":10},"minimark",[11,18,23,26,105,111,114,118,122,125,128,132,139,145,151,163,167,170,176,179,183,186,189,200],[12,13,14],"answer-box",{},[15,16,17],"p",{},"Yes, but the gap between when a panel produces and when your utility charges most is the central problem of solar in California. Panels peak around noon. SCE, SDG&E and PG&E all charge their highest rates from roughly 4pm to 9pm. On a time-of-use plan, the same kilowatt-hour can be worth 24 cents or 58 cents depending on when you use it — which makes a west-facing panel, or a battery, or simply running the dishwasher at lunchtime, worth more than it looks.",[19,20,22],"h2",{"id":21},"what-a-time-of-use-plan-is","What a time-of-use plan is",[15,24,25],{},"Instead of one price for electricity, you pay different prices at different hours. Most California residential customers are now on one.",[27,28,29,48],"table",{},[30,31,32],"thead",{},[33,34,35,39,42,45],"tr",{},[36,37,38],"th",{},"Utility",[36,40,41],{},"Typical peak window",[36,43,44],{},"Rough peak rate",[36,46,47],{},"Rough off-peak",[49,50,51,66,80,93],"tbody",{},[33,52,53,57,60,63],{},[54,55,56],"td",{},"SCE, TOU-D-4-9PM",[54,58,59],{},"4pm–9pm",[54,61,62],{},"~58¢ summer weekday",[54,64,65],{},"~24¢",[33,67,68,71,74,77],{},[54,69,70],{},"SCE, TOU-D-5-8PM",[54,72,73],{},"5pm–8pm",[54,75,76],{},"up to ~74¢ summer weekday",[54,78,79],{},"lower off-peak",[33,81,82,85,87,90],{},[54,83,84],{},"SDG&E",[54,86,59],{},[54,88,89],{},"62–80¢",[54,91,92],{},"lower",[33,94,95,98,100,103],{},[54,96,97],{},"PG&E, E-TOU-C",[54,99,59],{},[54,101,102],{},"~50¢",[54,104,92],{},[15,106,107],{},[108,109,110],"em",{},"Rates as published in 2026 and subject to change. Check your own bill — this is a guide, not a quote.",[15,112,113],{},"Look at the SCE numbers. The most expensive electricity of the day costs more than twice the cheapest. That ratio is the whole game.",[19,115,117],{"id":116},"the-mismatch-stated-plainly","The mismatch, stated plainly",[119,120],"day-band-chart",{"caption":121},"Your panel's best hours and your utility's most expensive hours barely overlap. Everything useful you can do comes from closing that gap.",[15,123,124],{},"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.",[15,126,127],{},"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.",[19,129,131],{"id":130},"four-ways-to-close-the-gap","Four ways to close the gap",[15,133,134,138],{},[135,136,137],"strong",{},"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.",[15,140,141,144],{},[135,142,143],{},"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.",[15,146,147,150],{},[135,148,149],{},"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.",[15,152,153,156,157,162],{},[135,154,155],{},"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. ",[158,159,161],"a",{"href":160},"\u002Fguides\u002Fbattery-or-no-battery","More",".",[19,164,166],{"id":165},"should-you-change-rate-plan","Should you change rate plan?",[15,168,169],{},"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.",[15,171,172,175],{},[135,173,174],{},"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.",[15,177,178],{},"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.",[19,180,182],{"id":181},"what-it-means-for-your-savings-figure","What it means for your savings figure",[15,184,185],{},"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.",[15,187,188],{},"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.",[15,190,191,195,196],{},[158,192,194],{"href":193},"\u002Futilities\u002Fsce","Utility-specific pages →"," · ",[158,197,199],{"href":198},"\u002Fwizard","What would yours save? →",[201,202],"sources-block",{},"2026-09-01","Solar makes power at midday; utilities charge most from 4pm to 9pm. What that gap does to your savings, and how to close it.","md",null,"article",{},true,"\u002Fguides\u002Ftime-of-use-rates","Article",{"title":5,"description":204},[214,217],{"title":215,"url":216,"accessed":203},"SCE residential rate plans and Rate Advisory, June 2026","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.sce.com\u002Fsave-money\u002Frates-financing\u002Fsce-rate-advisory",{"title":218,"url":219,"accessed":203},"Solar.com, SCE rate guide 2026","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.solar.com\u002Flearn\u002Fsouthern-california-edison-rates\u002F","guides\u002Ftime-of-use-rates",[222,223,224,225],"SCE TOU solar savings","time of use rates solar California","TOU-D-4-9PM solar","peak hours SCE","Balcony Solar and Time-of-Use Rates | SCE, SDG&E, PG&E","5CMtsauuodiFJ74xhtjs7p5ADUwIsGE8Y5_9pQsmhxM",{"id":229,"title":230,"body":231,"description":256,"email":255,"extension":205,"location":257,"meta":258,"name":237,"navigation":209,"path":259,"photo":260,"role":261,"sameAs":206,"seo":262,"stem":263,"__hash__":264},"authors\u002Fauthors\u002Fmike.md","Mike",{"type":9,"value":232},[233,239,242,246,249],[15,234,235,238],{},[135,236,237],{},"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.",[15,240,241],{},"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.",[19,243,245],{"id":244},"editorial-independence","Editorial independence",[15,247,248],{},"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.",[15,250,251,252,162],{},"Reach him at ",[158,253,255],{"href":254},"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":256},"authors\u002Fmike","kb0uodhMlGk_YV3nMOIXdr6bpZgtB5zNoRxdGxsXMQ8",1788387858485]