Solar in San Diego: The Questions We Are Actually Asked

What Happened to the Federal Tax Credit

Start here, because it is the biggest change and the most common source of out-of-date advice.

The federal Residential Clean Energy Credit under Section 25D was terminated for expenditures made after 31 December 2025 by Public Law 119-21. For a homeowner installing today, the 30% federal credit does not apply. There is no reduced rate and no phase-down.

There is a detail worth knowing: an expenditure counts when the installation is completed, not when it was ordered or paid for. Households who signed in late 2025 but were switched on in 2026 fall the wrong side of it.

So Does Solar Still Make Sense Here?

For many households, yes — but the honest answer is that the payback period is longer than it was in 2025, and anyone telling you otherwise is selling.

The underlying reason solar works in San Diego has not changed: SDG&E rates are high and rising, and the sun is reliable. What changed is that you are now funding the whole system rather than roughly seventy percent of it.

That makes the assessment matter more than it used to. A system sized against your actual consumption, on a roof that suits it, still reduces a large recurring bill for twenty-five years. A system sold to you on generic numbers may not.

Will Solar Work on My Roof?

• Roof age and material — asphalt shingle, tile and metal are all workable. Condition matters more than material.
• Orientation — south-facing produces most; west-facing often produces more value under time-of-use rates because it generates later in the day.
• Shading — trees, chimneys, neighbouring buildings. We model this rather than eyeball it.
• Remaining roof life — the single most important one.

Do I Need a Battery?

Not required, and worth understanding properly rather than being upsold.

Under NEM 3.0 — which applies to anyone interconnecting since April 2023 — you are paid considerably less for energy you export than you pay for energy you import. That shifts the value from generating to storing.

A battery also gives you outage cover, which solar alone does not. A grid-tied array shuts down during an outage for the safety of utility crews; only a battery with the right equipment keeps your circuits live.

Whether it pays depends on your consumption shape and your rate schedule. We model it both ways and show you the comparison.

How Long Does It Take?

• Site assessment and design — a couple of weeks.
• Permitting and SDG&E approvals — the slow part, and it varies by jurisdiction.
• Installation itself — usually a small number of days.
• Inspection and activation — a further short wait.

Most of the calendar is approvals rather than work, and that portion is largely outside our control. Any installer promising a firm activation date at the point of signing is guessing.

What Maintenance Does It Need?

Very little. There are no moving parts.

Rain handles most cleaning in San Diego; an occasional rinse helps in dustier inland areas. Panels typically carry long warranties, and monitoring means a drop in output is noticed before you would spot it on a bill.

We include monitoring on every installation for exactly that reason — an underperforming system that nobody notices is the most expensive kind.