Bakersfield is one of the best places in the nation to install solar panels for your home.
It has lots of sunshine and utility power through PG&E is expensive. This combination, as well as some great incentives, makes installing solar panels for your home in Bakersfield a great investment.
Many homeowners in Bakersfield have been able to buy a solar power system that lasts 25 years but which pays for itself in only 6 years. That's 19 years of living with free power!!!
Many others have been able to get zero down solutions where the monthly repayments are $50 or less than the power bill savings that they have obtained by installing the panels. This risk-free profit is hard to ignore but your house must suit solar.
Does PG&E offer an upfront rebate for the installation of solar panels in Bakersfield?
The cost of solar has fallen a lot in California over the last 5 years and so PG&E no longer offer upfront rebates to install solar panels on your home other than some specific low income and multi-family programs.
To find out if your home might be eligible for one of these specific programs you really need to speak to a local solar company.
Is net metering available for PG&E customers in Bakersfield?
PG&E is required by law to provide net metering to all their solar customers.
How does net metering work?
When a solar system produces more power than what is being used in the home excess power is sent to the grid and credited by your utility provider at the retail power rate per. Electricity is sold and measured in kilowatt hours (kwh). A kilowatt-hour is equivalent to 1,000 watts of electricity used continuously for an hour.
Each kWh of power your solar system exports offsets the cost of another kWh drawn from the grid at a time your solar system couldn't service the demand of your home (such as at night or on a cloudy day).
Net metering is a very valuable incentive since most homeowners use little power during the day and so quite a lot of solar power generated can be exported to the grid.
Net metering gives you the financial benefit similar to storing your excess solar in a battery without the cost of needing to install a battery like Tesla Powerwall.
What if my solar system exports more energy in a month than my home draws from the grid?
PG&E carries over any unused credit at retail rates to the next month.
Any remaining credit at the end of the yearly billing cycle (where you have exported more to the grid than what you have used from the grid) will be paid out at a lower rate. This lower rate is called an avoided cost rate (2-3 cents per kWh) and deposited into your account. This annual process is known as a true up.
