What changed, what it did to solar payback, and how to work out whether storage is worth it for your house.
What you qualify for depends on who sends your bill. California does not have one battery incentive. It has a different set of programs for every utility and community choice aggregator, and they open, close, waitlist and change without much notice.
These are the incentive and rebate programs we work with and help get customers qualified for, to help cover some of the cost of battery-only storage. Pick your utility below and you will see what is actually available where you live.
One thing to be clear about before you read any of it: the federal residential clean energy credit under Section 25D expired after 31 December 2025. If you own the system, there is no federal credit in 2026. Anyone still quoting 30% is either out of date or hoping you are.
It is on your bill. If you are with a community choice aggregator, your delivery utility is still PG&E, SCE or SDG&E, so check both panels.
Each panel lists the programs, roughly what they pay, and whether they are currently accepting applications or waitlisted.
Eligibility often comes down to your exact address, your fire threat tier, your outage history and your income bracket. We check all of it and file the paperwork.
Choose your utility
Focus here is strictly on solar plus battery, battery storage, and batteries participating in the grid. Amounts are indicative. Always verify directly with the utility, the CCA or the program administrator before you count on a number.
This is the surviving part of SGIP, and it is income-qualified. Typically that means at or below 80% of area median income, or enrollment in CARE, FERA or ESA. Reported rates run up to around $1,100 per kWh of storage plus around $3,100 per kW for paired solar, which can cover a large portion or occasionally all of the cost for people who qualify.
The general market, equity and equity resiliency ratepayer budgets closed to new applications after 31 December 2025. Many territories are waitlisted and only limited funds remain in some sub-budgets. The program has been expanded to certain publicly owned utilities and CCAs. Your installer normally submits the application, and we handle that for you.
Income-qualified solar, up to around $3 per watt for systems of 5 kW or less, in disadvantaged community census tracts. Available to eligible PG&E, SCE and SDG&E customers in owner-occupied single-family homes. Battery may be included in some pathways, but the primary focus is solar.
Solar and battery systems are generally excluded from property tax reassessment, so adding storage does not increase your assessed value. Many references show this sunsetting for new systems after 1 January 2027.
Ongoing payments for allowing your battery to support the grid during peak or emergency events. Amounts vary by program and utility, and often land in the range of $200 to $600 or more per year per system, or per committed kW. Common across PG&E, SCE and SDG&E territories through Tesla and other aggregators.
Last reviewed: mid-2026
Up to $7,500 for first-time permanent battery customers who have experienced five or more Wildfire Safety, PSPS-related outages since 1 January 2024. First come, first served, and limited remaining as of early August 2026.
Conditions: the battery must be on the qualifying product list, purchased on or after 1 January 2025, and the application must be submitted within 12 months of Permission to Operate or by 31 December 2026. It often requires enrollment in an approved demand response or VPP program, such as Tesla ELRP A.4.
Up to $300 base, with extra for CARE and FERA customers, for qualifying portable batteries in Tier 2 or Tier 3 High Fire-Threat Districts, High Fire Risk Areas, or on EPSS circuits. Capacity limits apply. This is a separate, smaller program from permanent storage.
As the statewide panel above. Waitlists are common in PG&E territory.
The Tesla and PG&E VPP, ELRP and DSGS all pay for grid support, typically either per kWh on an event basis or as an annual incentive. PG&E also runs a Reliability Battery Initiative, which in limited cases has provided free systems.
Last reviewed: early August 2026
If you are a Clean Power Alliance customer, which covers many areas of Los Angeles and Ventura counties under SCE delivery, this is the strongest option in SCE territory.
Base rebate of $750 for eligible residential battery storage paired with solar, new or existing. Up to $2,250 total with the Reliability+ adder, worth $1,250 for cities and areas in fire hazard zones, plus a $250 medical or income-qualified adder. Minimum of around 5 kWh, SGIP-verified equipment, and a reservation and claim process. First come, first served.
$150 for qualifying portable power stations, or $200 to $600 for generators, with higher amounts for income-qualified and Medical Baseline customers, in Tier 2 and Tier 3 high fire risk areas.
As the statewide panel above. Mostly waitlisted in SCE territory.
DSGS, ELRP and similar programs for enrolled batteries.
Last reviewed: mid-2026
If you are an SDCP customer, which covers many cities and unincorporated areas, this is among the more attractive battery incentives in the state for eligible single-family homes.
Reported at $250 to $500 per kWh upfront for solar-charged batteries, plus ongoing performance payments of around 10 cents per kWh for evening and grid discharge over multiple years. The ongoing element is what makes it stand out, because it keeps paying rather than arriving once.
As the statewide panel above. Some AB 209 and publicly owned utility sub-budgets have been reported as more available through the CSE administrator here than elsewhere in the state.
DSGS and similar participation payments.
Programs such as San Diego Solar Equity may pair with storage for income-qualified customers.
Last reviewed: mid-2026
The largest single battery incentive currently available in California. A one-time enrollment incentive of up to $10,000 per household for qualifying new battery storage, calculated at roughly $500 per kWh of capacity with adjustments and caps. For a typical 13.5 kWh Powerwall that works out at around $5,400.
You must enroll within 90 days of Permission to Operate and participate in the Solar and Storage Rate with VPP-style dispatch. Enrolled systems also receive ongoing quarterly payments, with Tesla-specific figures often cited at around $110 or more per quarter per battery, subject to a cap.
Note that income-qualified customers whose systems are fully covered elsewhere may participate but typically do not receive the enrollment incentive.
Flat export compensation, raised to 9.6 cents per kWh effective June 2026. That is more favorable than the investor-owned utility Net Billing Tariff for many solar plus battery setups, because SMUD is a municipal utility and is not under CPUC NEM 3.0.
Last reviewed: mid-2026
LADWP credits exports at close to full retail rates and is not subject to CPUC NEM 3.0. That is strong for solar economics and it changes the battery case: here a battery is mainly about backup rather than rate arbitrage, because your exports are already worth close to what you pay.
This is exactly the kind of situation where we will tell you a battery may not pay for itself on bill savings alone.
Similar rates to the statewide program, around $1,100 per kWh of storage plus a solar adder. Applications go through LADWP as administrator, and many reports indicate waitlists.
Tesla and similar programs for grid participation payments, reported at up to around $350 per year per Powerwall in some references.
There is no broad general-market residential battery cash rebate at LADWP comparable to SMUD or some of the CCA programs. Worth knowing before you plan around one.
Last reviewed: mid-2026
Covering Alameda and San Joaquin areas under PG&E delivery. An installation rebate based on how much capacity you agree to share with the VPP: $90 per kWh at market rate, or $500 per kWh for CARE and FERA income-qualified customers, on the shared portion, which can be 40%, 60% or 80%.
Then ongoing participation payments of $3 per month per shared kWh for five years. Available for new solar plus battery or for adding a battery to existing solar. Approved batteries only, first come first served.
See the SCE panel above. The Sun Storage Rebate runs up to $2,250.
A residential battery rebate reported at up to around $1,500.
The Residential Battery Rebate closed to new applications in March 2026. 3CE is transitioning to a VPP pilot expected in autumn 2026, so this one is worth watching rather than counting on.
Riverside Public Utilities is exploring larger battery programs, with proposals up to $10,000 to $17,000 for qualifying households. Rancho Mirage Energy Authority offers $500 to $1,500 for residential batteries.
Various smaller utilities, including Silicon Valley Power, Palo Alto, Burbank, Glendale, Imperial Irrigation District and Roseville, occasionally offer limited storage or solar plus storage incentives. Many smaller publicly owned utilities have no active residential battery cash rebate at all beyond the statewide pathways where eligible. These need checking one at a time, and we do that.
Last reviewed: mid-2026
Before you count on anything
Almost every program above turns on the same handful of conditions. Some of them you will know already. Some depend on your exact address.
For the absolute latest amounts, remaining budget and address-specific eligibility, contact your utility's solar and storage team or use their online maps and tools. Program budgets open and close quickly, so treat every figure on this page as indicative until we have checked your address.
Programs we have filed for before
SGIP, the Self-Generation Incentive Program, was California's main state-level battery storage rebate. We have filed SGIP applications on behalf of homeowners and we know the process.
The general market, equity and equity resiliency ratepayer budgets closed to new applications after 31 December 2025. The part that survives is the income-qualified RSSE pathway under AB 209, which is in the statewide panel above. Many territories are waitlisted and only limited funds remain in some sub-budgets.
Historically the program has been refunded periodically, so it may return. But it is not a general-market rebate today, and any company still advertising SGIP as a current incentive for everyone is either not paying attention or hoping you are not.
If it reopens, we will file for it. In the meantime, the programs above are what is actually available.
Next step
Every figure on this page is indicative. What you can actually get depends on your utility, your address, your outage history, your income bracket and which budgets still have money in them this month.
Send us a recent utility bill and we will check all of it, then file the paperwork on your behalf. If you do not qualify for anything meaningful, we will tell you that rather than building a rebate into your quote that never arrives.
Solari Storage is a California battery sales and program-qualification company. We do not install solar or batteries. Our install partners handle fulfillment. Programs change quickly. Always verify directly with the utility, CCA or program administrator and a qualified installer before making a decision.
