Faq

No. The 30% federal residential clean energy credit under Section 25D expired on 31 December 2025 under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Home battery systems placed in service in 2026 do not qualify for it, and a cash or loan purchase this year receives no federal credit.

No. The IRS treats the expenditure as made when the installation is completed, not when you paid the deposit. If your home battery was placed in service after 31 December 2025, the Section 25D credit does not apply.

This is the detail most California solar sites still get wrong, and it is the one that costs homeowners money.

No, carryforward survives. If your tax liability in the year you installed was too small to absorb the full Section 25D credit, the unused portion carries forward to later tax years.

Either their site is out of date, or they are referring to a commercial-side credit claimed by a finance company under a lease or PPA. A commercial credit claimed by a third party is a different thing from a residential credit you claim on your own tax return, and it is not yours.

Not for you directly. Commercial-side credits survive, so a finance company may claim a credit and pass some of that value through in the pricing of a lease or PPA. That is not the same as you receiving a 30% credit, and the total cost of ownership over the term is a separate question worth asking.

Nobody knows, including anyone selling you a battery. Section 25D expired on 31 December 2025 and has not been replaced. Any company presenting a future reinstatement as likely is speculating.

There is no single statewide battery rebate in California. What you qualify for depends on your utility: PG&E, SCE, SDG&E, SMUD, LADWP and the community choice aggregators all run different programs, and they open, close and waitlist without much notice.

SMUD currently offers the largest single incentive in the state at up to $10,000 for qualifying battery storage. San Diego Community Power pays $250 to $500 per kWh plus ongoing performance payments. Clean Power Alliance pays up to $2,250. LADWP has no broad general-market battery rebate at all.

Not for the general market. The SGIP general market, equity and equity resiliency budgets closed to new applications after 31 December 2025.

What survives is the income-qualified pathway, the Residential Solar and Storage Equity program under AB 209. Many territories are waitlisted and only limited funds remain in some sub-budgets. Any company advertising SGIP as a rebate available to everyone in 2026 is either not paying attention or hoping you are not.

Reported rates for the SGIP income-qualified pathway run up to around $1,100 per kWh of battery storage, plus around $3,100 per kW for paired solar, which can cover a large portion of the cost for households that qualify.

Eligibility is income-based: typically a household at or below 80% of area median income, or enrollment in CARE, FERA or ESA. It also depends on your address, your fire threat tier and your utility.

SGIP applications go through your utility or the relevant program administrator rather than a single state portal, and require documentation about the installed equipment. The installer normally submits the application.

Solari Storage files the application on your behalf and follows it up, rather than handing you a link.

No, SGIP and the federal tax credit are separate programs. The federal credit under Section 25D expired on 31 December 2025. SGIP is a California state program administered through the utilities, and the surviving income-qualified tier operates independently of the federal position.

A virtual power plant is an arrangement where your utility or battery manufacturer draws a portion of your stored energy during peak grid demand and pays you for what they take. Payments commonly run from $200 to $600 or more per year per system, depending on the program.

You set the limits, the battery keeps a reserve so your home stays backed up, and you can usually opt out of individual events. Which programs you can join depends on your utility and your battery platform.

Sometimes, but not always. Several California programs have stacking rules that exclude specific combinations, and finding that out after you have committed is expensive. Checking the stacking rules for your address is part of what we do before quoting.

NEM 3.0, formally the Net Billing Tariff, is the California net metering rule that applies to solar systems interconnected after April 2023. It compensates power you export to the grid at a rate well below the retail price you pay for grid power.

In practice, exported solar earns around eight cents per kWh while peak electricity can cost as much as sixty-two cents. That gap is the entire reason battery storage now matters in California.

It depends on your interconnection date. California solar systems interconnected before April 2023 are generally on NEM 2.0 for the remainder of their legacy period. Anything interconnected after that date is on NEM 3.0.

If you are on NEM 2.0 and considering adding a battery, ask before you do anything. There are circumstances where adding capacity can affect a legacy agreement, and that is a question to settle with your specific utility beforehand.

Under NEM 3.0, usually yes if you want the system to pay back reasonably. Because exported power earns roughly eight cents against a peak retail rate that can reach sixty-two cents, the value is in storing your own generation and using it during the evening peak.

There are exceptions. LADWP credits exports at close to full retail and is not under NEM 3.0, so for LADWP customers a battery is about backup rather than bill savings.

Solar without a battery can still be worth it in California, particularly if you use most of your power during daylight hours. But payback is slower than under earlier net metering rules, and for most households the battery is what restores the economics.

No, a home battery substantially reduces an electricity bill rather than removing it. Fixed charges, seasonal variation and low-generation days all remain. Anyone promising a zero bill is presenting an unusual case as typical.

Because solar panels produce most of their power at midday, when nobody is home, and California's most expensive hours run from roughly 4pm to 9pm. Without storage you sell your own power cheap and buy it back expensive, every day.

A battery holds midday production until the evening. You are not buying anything new from the utility, you are keeping what you already generated.

Solari Storage does not publish a price for a home battery, because a number without your bill attached is a guess. The four variables that move the figure most are usable capacity, how much work your electrical panel needs, how far the battery sits from that panel, and which incentives you qualify for where you live.

Send a recent utility bill and we will build a real quote, including telling you if the numbers say do not buy.

Both, in California. Under NEM 3.0 the gap between what your utility pays for exported power and what it charges at peak is wide enough that shifting your own generation is where the savings come from. Backup during outages is a separate benefit on top.

Usually capacity, electrical work and what is included. A quote for one battery with essential-loads backup is not comparable to one for two batteries with whole-home backup, and electrical panel upgrades are often quoted separately or left out entirely.

Ask every company for four things: usable kWh, continuous kW, what backup coverage is included, and what is excluded. Comparing anything less than that is comparing nothing.

Adding a battery to solar you already own is normally the cheapest energy upgrade available in California. The panels are paid for and the roof work is done. What is missing is somewhere to put the power until you need it.

Then we tell you. It happens with low evening consumption, an unusual rate plan, or a utility like LADWP that still credits exports near retail. Solari Storage would rather lose a sale than build a quote around numbers that do not work.

There is no single best home battery. The right one depends on your peak load, how much backup you want, your existing solar equipment, available space and rate plan. Anyone who names one without asking about your house is describing their inventory rather than your needs.

Solari Storage works with four battery platforms: Tesla Powerwall 3, the Lunar System, FranklinWH aPower 2 and the SolarEdge Home Battery.

We work with four rather than one specifically so we are not forced to recommend the only product we carry. If the cheaper option is right for your house, we can say so.

Tesla Powerwall 3 is 13.5 kWh with 11.5 kW continuous output, the highest of the four, and has a built-in solar inverter. FranklinWH aPower 2 is 15 kWh with 10 kW continuous, is AC-coupled so it retrofits onto almost any existing solar, and carries the longest warranty at 15 years. The Lunar System scales from 15 to 30 kWh in 5 kWh blocks at 9.6 kW continuous. The SolarEdge Home Battery is 9.7 kWh with 5 kW continuous and the highest round-trip efficiency at 94.5%, but requires a SolarEdge inverter.

Most California homes are served by one or two battery units. The number depends on your evening consumption, whether you want essential-loads or whole-home backup, and whether you run large loads such as air conditioning or EV charging.

Battery sizing comes from two numbers: how much energy you use during peak hours, measured in kWh, and how much power you draw at once, measured in kW. The second is what determines whether large appliances will actually run during an outage.

Both come off your utility bill and a short conversation about what you want backed up. Neither comes off a satellite photo.

Yes, and how easily depends on the platform. The Lunar System adds capacity in 5 kWh blocks within the same tower. FranklinWH aPower 2 scales to 15 units and 225 kWh on a single aGate controller. Tesla Powerwall 3 supports up to four units plus three Expansion units. The SolarEdge Home Battery stacks up to three per inverter.

If you expect your usage to grow, say so at the start. It changes which platform makes sense.

DC-coupled batteries connect on the solar side of your system, which is more efficient but usually means working with or replacing your inverter. AC-coupled batteries connect on the household side and work alongside almost any existing inverter regardless of brand or age.

If you have working solar you do not want touched, AC coupling is normally the cleaner route. FranklinWH aPower 2 is AC-coupled; the SolarEdge Home Battery is DC-coupled.

Lithium iron phosphate, LFP, is more thermally stable. NMC cells are more energy dense, which helps with compactness. Tesla Powerwall 3 and FranklinWH aPower 2 use LFP; the Lunar System and the SolarEdge Home Battery 400V use NMC.

All four are certified to UL 9540A for residential use, so this is a difference worth knowing rather than a reason to rule anything out.

It depends entirely on what you run. Essential loads such as the fridge, lights, internet and outlets last far longer on a home battery than air conditioning or electric heat, which can drain a single unit in a few hours.

We size the system around what you actually want backed up rather than quoting a headline number that assumes a house nothing like yours.

Only if the system is sized and wired for whole-home backup, which costs more than essential-loads backup. Many California homeowners choose essential loads once they see the price difference, which is a reasonable decision rather than a compromise.

Yes. All four platforms we work with detect a grid outage and switch to backup automatically, fast enough that you generally notice a brief flicker rather than an outage.

Yes, if you have solar and daylight. The panels recharge the battery each day, which is what makes solar plus storage genuinely useful in a long outage. Without solar, the battery is limited to whatever it held when the grid went down.

Yes, and Public Safety Power Shutoffs are one of the main reasons Californians in high fire-threat areas install storage. Tesla's Storm Watch feature charges the battery ahead of forecast severe weather, so you enter an outage full rather than partway down.

PSPS outage history also affects which incentives you qualify for. PG&E's permanent battery rebate of up to $7,500 is aimed at customers who have had five or more wildfire safety outages since January 2024.

Usually yes, but it depends on continuous power output and motor start rating rather than capacity. Tesla Powerwall 3 delivers 11.5 kW continuous with 185 A motor start, FranklinWH aPower 2 delivers 10 kW with 185 A, the Lunar System 9.6 kW with 134 A, and the SolarEdge Home Battery 5 kW.

Air conditioning is the largest load in most California homes and the usual reason a house needs more output than the smallest system provides. Say so early if it matters to you.

Yes. A home battery in California requires a building permit from your local authority and utility interconnection approval. Solari Storage manages both, along with the schedule, so you are not chasing your city's permitting office or your utility.

No. Solari Storage does not install solar or batteries. We have partnered with some of the most experienced installers in the state of California, who do the fulfillment on battery only and solar second.

What we do is specify your system, secure the incentives and rebates you qualify for, file the paperwork, and manage the project through permitting and interconnection.

Yes. Solari Storage's install partners carry out the physical work, and we are straightforward about that rather than implying we have our own crews.

Usually yes. Most existing California solar systems can take an AC-coupled battery regardless of inverter brand or age, and it is normally the cheapest energy upgrade available in the state.

We check compatibility before we quote anything, and we will tell you if your system is one of the exceptions.

You will always work with your Solari Storage sales rep from the time you sign until the install, with the assistance of our account managers, and we communicate with you through group texts rather than a ticket queue.

Soon you will have live updates on your install process, how far out you are from your install and what we need from you in order to move your project forward.

Home batteries sold in the US are UL-certified and permitted through your local building department, which requires inspection before the system is placed in service. All four platforms we work with are certified to UL 9540A.

The SolarEdge Home Battery 400V was among the first residential batteries to pass the UL 9540A unit level fire safety test, which is what allows convenient indoor installation.

Any energy storage device carries some risk, which is why home battery installation in California is permitted, inspected and subject to clearance rules. That process is a safeguard rather than a formality.

Chemistry matters here. LFP cells, used in Tesla Powerwall 3 and FranklinWH aPower 2, are more thermally stable than NMC. Both chemistries are certified for residential use.

FranklinWH aPower 2 has the longest warranty at 15 years or 60 MWh of throughput. The Lunar System is 12.5 years with a throughput cap that scales with system size. Tesla Powerwall 3 and the SolarEdge Home Battery are both 10 years.

Two things sit in the small print. Tesla's datasheet notes the unit must be reliably connected to the internet to secure the full term. And where a warranty states a throughput cap in MWh, heavy daily cycling can reach that limit before the years run out.

Throughput is the total amount of energy that passes through a battery over its life. A warranty of 15 years or 60 MWh, whichever comes first, means heavy daily cycling can hit the energy limit before the calendar limit.

For a typical California time-of-use pattern that is rarely the binding constraint, but it is worth understanding rather than assuming a warranty is purely a number of years.

Very little. A home battery has no moving parts and no fluids to change, and all four platforms monitor themselves through an app and report faults.

Two habits worth keeping: check the app occasionally so you notice if something stops reporting, and keep the unit clear of stored items if it is in a garage.

Longer than the warranty in most cases, but with reduced capacity over time. Warranties typically guarantee a percentage of original capacity at the end of the term, and SolarEdge for example guarantees 70% retention at 10 years.

A battery does not stop working when the warranty ends. It holds less than it did when it was new.

Solari Storage is based in Southern California. Our install partners are based out of Sacramento, Bakersfield, Fresno, Anaheim and San Diego, so we cover the entire state.

Solari Storage covers the entire state of California. Our install partners are based out of Sacramento, Bakersfield, Fresno, Anaheim and San Diego. We do not operate outside California.

Yes. Solari Storage is licensed and insured.

Our installers are Tesla Certified. Solari Storage does not perform installations, so the certification sits with the partners who do the work rather than with us.

Solari Storage began doing battery only focused work in November 2025 and established the company in February 2026. Co-founder Stephen has been in the solar and storage industry since 2019.

Solari Storage is battery only first, solar second. We start with the battery that completes the system you already have, and we only recommend adding more solar if your usage and goals truly require it. Most homeowners do not need more panels, they need storage.

One recent utility bill. That shows your real usage and rate plan, which is everything we need to work out whether battery storage makes sense for your home. Not a satellite photo, not an estimate, and not your phone number first.