CraftStrom

Who it's for

Businesses. Anyone installing before SB 868 takes effect who wants the interconnection question closed rather than argued. Anyone whose HOA or landlord is nervous and who'd benefit from being able to say, truthfully, that the device is physically incapable of sending anything to the grid.

Who it isn't for

Anyone optimising for payback. At $2,031 for 800 watts, a kit saving around $250 a year takes eight years. The maths only works if the certainty is worth something to you in itself.

What zero-export actually means

A small meter clamps onto your incoming supply and watches how much your building is drawing. It tells the inverter to produce no more than that, moment to moment. If your café is drawing 400 watts, the inverter makes 400 watts, even if the sun could give it 800.

You lose production. You gain the ability to say that nothing your system produces ever touches the utility's wires, which makes the entire interconnection debate irrelevant to you.

Drawbacks

• The price.
• You're throwing away production by design.
• Certification is ETL to UL 1741, not UL 3700. The zero-export design arguably makes that less important — but "arguably" is doing work in that sentence.

Verdict

Right answer for a nervous business or a pre-2027 installation. Wrong answer for a renter trying to trim a bill.