San Diego has the fastest payback for plug-in solar

On SDG&E's standard tiered plan (Schedule DR), each kWh above 130% of your baseline allowance costs 52¢/kWh.^[source] At that rate, the example kit (800 W, $1,000) saves about $412 a year and pays for itself in about 2.4 years, the fastest of California's three largest utilities.

Estimated savings on SDG&E

Plan	Rate used	Savings per year	Payback
Standard rate, no discount	52¢/kWh	$412	2.4 years
Standard rate, CARE	32.76¢/kWh	$259	3.9 years
Standard rate, FERA	42.64¢/kWh	$338	3.0 years

Click a row to open it in the savings calculator.

Standard tiered plan (DR)

SDG&E's Schedule DR charges 41.3¢/kWh to 52¢/kWh.^[source] Rates from SDG&E's Schedule DR tiered rate table, effective August 1, 2026, the same in summer and winter: Tier 1 for usage up to 130% of your baseline allowance, Tier 2 above it. Your kit's output cuts your highest-priced usage first, so we use the Tier 2 rate. If your usage stays within the Tier 1 allowance, your savings will be lower. For comparison, SDG&E's average residential rate across all customers, including CARE households, is 45.5¢/kWh, the highest of the three (PG&E 33.7¢/kWh, SCE 34.4¢/kWh).^[source]

Time-of-use

We don't have SDG&E time-of-use rates in our data yet. In the calculator, choose SDG&E and "Time-of-use", then enter the off-peak rate from your bill.

More in time-of-use rates and plug-in solar.

CARE and FERA

SDG&E's CARE rate table (Schedule DR-LI, effective August 1, 2026) takes 35% off after removing charges CARE customers don't pay. That comes to 36.8% to 37.3% off each kWh compared with the standard Schedule DR. CARE's lower fixed monthly charge isn't counted because a kit can't change it.^{[source][source]} FERA gives 18%.^[source] Each kWh then costs you less, so a kit saves less and pays back more slowly. Our estimates use 37% for CARE.

More in CARE and FERA discounts and plug-in solar.

What a kit can't change

Standard customers pay a fixed charge of about $24.15/month (CARE about $6, FERA about $12) that solar cannot remove.^[source] A plug-in kit only reduces the per-kWh part of your bill.

How we estimate

• Production: watts × a yield for your placement (typical: 1.1 kWh per watt per year).^[source]
• Power sent back to the grid is valued at $0.
• Rates checked Oct 18, 2026. Savings estimates ignore future rate changes.

Not financial advice. Join the waitlist to hear when certified kits ship.