Solar and battery incentives near you: rebates by California utility (2026)

First, find out who actually bills you

“Near me” means your utility, not your ZIP code. PG&E, SCE and SDG&E are investor-owned utilities regulated by the CPUC, and they share the state programs below. City-owned utilities such as SMUD, LADWP and Roseville Electric set their own solar rules. If a community choice aggregator supplies your generation, it may run its own program too. Your bill names both. The California utility rate tracker shows who serves which area and what each charges.

Programs that apply across PG&E, SCE and SDG&E

• Federal Residential Clean Energy Credit: ended. The IRS says it “is not available for any property placed in service after December 31, 2025” (IRS). That applies in every utility territory.
• SGIP battery incentives. The CPUC’s Self-Generation Incentive Program serves customers of PG&E, SCE, SoCalGas and SDG&E, and customers of publicly owned utilities and cooperatives can apply to its Residential Solar and Storage Equity budget; LADWP runs its own SGIP administration (CPUC). On September 23, 2026 the program tracker showed Small Residential Storage, Equity Resiliency and the ratepayer-funded Residential Solar and Storage Equity category closed at PG&E, SCE, SoCalGas and the Center for Sustainable Energy (SDG&E territory). The AB 209-funded equity budget was waitlisted at the Center for Sustainable Energy, SoCalGas and LADWP. Under PG&E and SCE, its sub-category for customers of publicly owned utilities was open and the sub-category for everyone else was waitlisted. The detail is in the SGIP battery rebate status guide. If the battery you are pricing is a Tesla, the Powerwall rebates, including Tesla’s own, are listed program by program in the Powerwall 3 cost guide.
• DAC-SASH. The CPUC says it “enables income-qualified homeowners in DACs to receive no-cost rooftop solar,” with “$3/watt incentives,” administered by GRID Alternatives (CPUC).
• DAC Green Tariff and Community Solar Green Tariff. “A 20% bill discount” for income-qualified residential customers in disadvantaged communities who may be unable to install solar on their roof (CPUC). See options for renters and homes without a suitable roof.
• CARE and FERA. CARE gives a “30–35% discount” on the electric bill; FERA “applies an 18% discount” for families whose income slightly exceeds the CARE limits (CPUC). These cut the bill; they do not pay for panels. For PG&E customers, the income limits and enrollment rules are in how CARE and FERA work on a PG&E bill.
• Property tax exclusion. A qualifying system does not raise your assessment. The Board of Equalization says the statute “is now scheduled to sunset on January 1, 2027” (BOE).

Net billing is not a rebate. Systems that applied for interconnection since April 15, 2023 take service on the Net Billing Tariff, which credits exports at values the CPUC says are “usually lower than the retail rate,” though they “can rise above the retail rate on late summer evenings” (CPUC). The rules are in NEM 2.0 versus NEM 3.0.

PG&E

• No PG&E rebate on solar panels. PG&E administers SGIP for its territory; status is by category, above. Everything else PG&E offers solar customers, from Green Saver to DAC-SASH, is in PG&E’s solar programs and their status.
• Generator and Battery Rebate Program. For portable generators and portable batteries (290 Wh to 1,000 Wh), not home battery systems. Customers in Tier 2 or 3 High Fire-Threat Districts, a High Fire Risk Area or on an Enhanced Power Safety Settings circuit can get “up to $300” per account, and CARE or FERA customers “up to an additional $200.” Applications are due within 12 months of purchase or by December 31, 2026, whichever is sooner (PG&E).
• Clean Energy Calculator. Inside your PG&E account, it uses “your household’s past 12 months of energy usage” and shows “available incentives” alongside cost and break-even estimates (PG&E). How to use it is in the PG&E solar calculator guide.
• What a solar bill still carries. PG&E’s monthly Base Services Charge, about $24 for most customers from March 2026, “is not eligible to be offset by monthly generation credits” (PG&E). PG&E’s residential average rate was $0.337 per kWh in June 2026 (CPUC Public Advocates Office).

SCE

SCE’s own solar incentives page lists one rebate: SGIP, “Rebates for battery storage systems.” The rest are billing arrangements, not payments: the Solar Billing Plan, net energy metering for legacy customers, Virtual Net Metering to share credits across accounts, and the Community Renewables Program (SCE, checked September 23, 2026). SCE’s residential average rate was $0.344 per kWh on June 1, 2026 (CPUC Public Advocates Office). Plan choices are in SCE time-of-use rates for 2026.

SDG&E and San Diego

• What SDG&E lists. SGIP for storage, DAC-SASH, and the San Diego Solar Equity Program, which “offers monetary assistance to income-qualifying, single-family homeowners in the City of San Diego to offset the cost of solar panel installation” (SDG&E, checked September 23, 2026). That SDG&E page still says residential customers “may qualify for a 30% federal tax credit.” The IRS says the credit is not available for systems placed in service after December 31, 2025; go by the IRS. The same SDG&E page says SGIP is “currently offering Energy Storage rebates for homes”; the tracker showed the residential categories in SDG&E territory closed or waitlisted that day, so check the tracker.
• San Diego Community Power battery incentive. For its residential customers adding a solar-charged battery at a single-family home: $350 per kWh for a new solar-and-battery system or $250 per kWh for a battery only at market rate, and $500 or $350 per kWh for customers not on market rate, plus $0.10 per kWh for weekday dispatch. Enrollment opened September 30, 2025 (San Diego Community Power, checked September 23, 2026).
• Rates. SDG&E’s residential average rate was $0.455 per kWh in June 2026, the highest of the three (CPUC Public Advocates Office). The plans are in SDG&E time-of-use rates.

SMUD (Sacramento)

• Export credit. Systems approved for interconnection on or after March 1, 2022 are on SMUD’s Solar and Storage Rate, which credits exports at “9.6¢/kWh” effective June 1, 2026. Customers approved before March 1, 2022 can stay on their original net metering rate through December 31, 2030, unless they add battery storage with incentives, modify the system or move (SMUD).
• My Energy Optimizer Partner+ battery incentive. $500 per kWh, up to $10,000 per household, for projects submitted by September 22, 2026 and enrolled by December 31, 2026. From September 23, 2026 it is $300 per kWh, up to $6,000. You must be on the Solar and Storage Rate and enroll within 90 days of permission to operate; individual rental units and MED Rate customers are not eligible (SMUD, checked September 23, 2026). SolarShares, system sizing and the connection steps are in the SMUD solar program guide.

LADWP (Los Angeles)

LADWP is city-owned, so the CPUC’s Net Billing Tariff, which covers PG&E, SCE and SDG&E, does not set its solar credits (CPUC). LADWP is an SGIP administrator, and on September 23, 2026 the tracker showed its AB 209 equity budget on a waitlist. LADWP’s own solar programs page refused automated retrieval when this page was checked, so this guide does not restate its current incentive amounts. Check that page or call LADWP before a proposal counts on an LADWP incentive. A separate guide walks through every LADWP solar program, from Solar Rooftops to the Feed-in Tariff. Bills are covered in why LADWP bills run high.

Roseville Electric

Systems interconnected on or after October 1, 2018, and existing systems expanded by 10% or more since then, are on Roseville Solar 2.0, which pays “$0.0691 per kWh” for surplus energy sent to the grid. Earlier customers keep net energy metering through October 1, 2028, or 20 years from interconnection, whichever is later (City of Roseville, checked September 23, 2026). The Solar 2.0 page names no solar or battery rebate; ask Roseville Electric about current rebates.

Community choice aggregators (CCAs)

If a community choice aggregator buys your electricity, PG&E, SCE or SDG&E still delivers it and still handles solar billing, but the CCA may run its own battery program. Three examples, each checked on its own page on September 23, 2026:

• Clean Power Alliance. The Sun Storage Rebate pays $2,000 for an eligible battery, $1,250 more in Public Safety Power Shutoff areas, and $250 more for Medical Baseline or for CARE or FERA customers (not both), up to $3,500. It is “first-come first-served” with “limited funding available,” the installer must hold a CSLB license, and you can apply before or up to three months after installation (Clean Power Alliance).
• San Diego Community Power. Its Solar Battery Savings rebate is in the SDG&E section above.
• Central Coast Community Energy (3CE): closed. “Effective March 19, 2026, 3CE has closed the Residential Battery Rebate Program to new applications.” Applications filed before then are still processed, and 3CE points later battery buyers to a virtual power plant program it says launches in fall 2026 (3CE). Some installer and manufacturer incentive lists still showed the rebate after it closed.

Other city-owned utilities

Anaheim, Modesto Irrigation District, Corona and other publicly owned utilities set their own solar and rebate terms, and some change them mid-year. Anaheim Public Utilities, for example, lists a battery rebate of “up to $3,000 per household” for a UL-certified battery of at least 5 kWh, if you stay on a time-of-use rate and in its MyPower Savings program for at least 12 months. Its page does not say whether funds remain, so call before counting on it (City of Anaheim, checked September 23, 2026). Ask the utility for its current export credit and any rebate before comparing quotes. The rate tracker links each one’s own rate schedule.

How to claim what you qualify for

1. Name the program and its administrator. A logo on a flyer is not a reservation.
2. Check the status on the day you sign. SGIP categories and municipal incentives change, as SMUD’s September 23, 2026 reduction shows.
3. Keep incentives out of the base price. Compare the cash price first, and ask who pays the difference if a rebate is denied.
4. Apply for bill help separately. CARE and FERA go through your utility and do not depend on solar.
5. Check the net cost. Put the price and any confirmed incentive into the California solar cost calculator, and see how long a system takes to pay back.

A referral request is optional and separate

California Rate Relief is a referral service. We are not a licensed contractor. We do not administer or decide eligibility for any program on this page, and a referral request does not reserve a rebate.