Income
Households at or below 80% of area median income, or enrolled in CARE or FERA. This is the pathway into the equity categories and into RSSE.
SGIP — California's Self-Generation Incentive Program — pays a rebate toward the cost of installing home battery storage. When funded, it is the most valuable storage incentive in the country, worth up to $1,000 per kWh for households that qualify.
Here is the part most installers will not tell you. As of 2026, most SGIP budgets are closed to new applications. The general market, equity and equity resiliency budgets stopped accepting new applicants on 31 December 2025. One pathway remains open, it is income-qualified, and it is operating on a waitlist.
We check your eligibility before we recommend a system, and we will tell you plainly which of those situations you are in.
The reason it exists
SGIP was created by the California Public Utilities Commission to get battery storage onto homes across the state. Two reasons. Batteries reduce strain on the grid during the evening hours when demand peaks and solar production has stopped. And they keep the power on during outages and Public Safety Power Shutoffs, which matters most for households in high fire-threat areas and for people who depend on medical equipment.
Because those are the goals, the money was never spread evenly. The largest rebates always went to the households the programme was designed to protect: low-income, medically vulnerable, and wildfire-exposed. Everyone else received a much smaller amount from a much smaller pot.
That design is why the 2026 picture looks the way it does.
The numbers
SGIP pays per kilowatt-hour of installed battery capacity. The rate depends entirely on which category you fall into.
| Category | Rate per kWh | On a 13.5 kWh battery | Status in 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Market | ~$150–$250 | ~$2,000–$3,400 | Closed to new applications |
| Equity | ~$850 | ~$11,500 | Closed to new applications |
| Equity Resiliency | ~$1,000 | ~$13,500 | Closed to new applications |
| Residential Solar & Storage Equity (RSSE) | up to ~$1,100 | ~$14,850 | Open — waitlist only, income-qualified |
Rates are indicative and step down as funding blocks are claimed. A rebate can never exceed the installed cost of the system. For systems above 30 kWh, eligible capacity is based on your historical electricity usage rather than the size you choose. Verify current rates and budget status at selfgenca.com.
Current status
One budget is still accepting applications: Residential Solar and Storage Equity, or RSSE. It launched in 2025 with state funding rather than ratepayer funding, and it is aimed at income-qualified households. It is currently fully reserved, which means new applications join a waitlist and are funded in the order received as existing reservations are cancelled or released.
There is no published timeline for how long that takes. Anyone who tells you otherwise is guessing.
The three ratepayer-funded budgets — general market, equity and equity resiliency — closed to new applications at the end of 2025. Applications already on those waitlists are still being funded from returned money, but no new ones are being accepted.
We check the live budget status before we quote. If it has changed since you read this, we will tell you.
Eligibility
To be eligible for any SGIP rebate you need to be a customer of PG&E, SCE, SDG&E or SoCalGas, and you need to own the system. Beyond that, the category you fall into is determined by income, location and household circumstances.
Households at or below 80% of area median income, or enrolled in CARE or FERA. This is the pathway into the equity categories and into RSSE.
Homes in Tier 2 or Tier 3 high fire-threat districts, or households that have experienced two or more Public Safety Power Shutoffs.
Households on a medical baseline allowance, or where a resident depends on electrically powered medical equipment.
Homes that rely on an electric pump for drinking water, subject to income and primary-residence conditions.
Meeting one of these does not by itself secure a rebate — the relevant budget also has to have funding available. All SGIP applicants must additionally enrol in a utility demand response programme within one year of receiving a conditional reservation.
Our part
The application runs through your utility rather than a single state portal, it needs documentation about the installed equipment, and it continues after the install is finished. Most installers deal with this by pointing you at a website. That is not dishonest, but it is a large part of why the money goes unclaimed.
We confirm your utility, your address against the fire-threat maps, and which category you fall into — before we recommend a system.
We assemble the equipment specifications, attestations and supporting paperwork the application requires.
We submit to your utility's program administrator and confirm receipt.
We handle follow-up requests, inspection scheduling and post-installation documentation.
You hear from us at every stage, including if the answer is a waitlist with no date on it.
We prepare and submit your application and supporting documentation. Approval and funding are determined by the SGIP program administrator, not by us. We will never build a rebate into your quote that has not been confirmed.
Without a rebate
Most Californians reading this page will not get an SGIP rebate in 2026. That does not mean storage stops making sense, and it is worth understanding why.
Under NEM 3.0, the power your panels export earns roughly 5 to 8 cents per kWh. The power you buy back during the 4pm to 9pm peak costs between 40 and 62 cents depending on your utility and tariff. A battery lets you keep your own power instead of selling it cheap and buying it back expensive. That gap is where the return comes from now — rebate or no rebate.
Whether it works on your house depends on your tariff, your usage pattern and your existing equipment. That is arithmetic, not opinion, and we will run it on your actual bill.
Send us a recent utility bill and we will tell you:
No obligation, and no sales call unless you ask for one. If the numbers do not work on your house, we will say so.
Get in contact ↗SGIP funding, eligibility requirements, incentive amounts and program rules change over time. Rebate availability depends on your utility service area, eligibility category and available program funding. Final approval is determined by the SGIP program administrator. Solari Storage prepares and submits applications; we do not approve or issue rebates. Current rates and budget status can be confirmed at selfgenca.com. This page is general information, not tax or financial advice.
The rebate is real, the money is there, and most eligible homeowners never see any of it. The reasons are consistent: the application is submitted through the utility rather than through a single state portal, it requires documentation most homeowners do not have to hand, the funding steps down over time so timing matters, and the process continues after installation.
Most installers deal with this by pointing you at a website. That is not dishonest, but it is the reason the money goes unclaimed.
[VERIFY: current rate] Rates differ between the standard residential tier and the equity tiers, and they step down as funding blocks are claimed.
[VERIFY: eligibility summary]
[VERIFY: confirm current programme status and remaining budget]
Applications go through your utility rather than a single state portal, and require documentation about the installed equipment. [VERIFY: full process] Solari files the application on your behalf.
[VERIFY]
[VERIFY: typical timeline]
[VERIFY: definition and qualification criteria — typically relates to medical baseline customers and high fire-threat districts, but confirm against the current handbook before publishing]
No, they are separate programmes. The federal credit under Section 25D expired on 31 December 2025; SGIP is a California state programme and is unaffected by that expiry.