What actually happens when the grid goes down
A grid-tied system without storage disconnects during an outage. People reasonably assume panels plus sunshine equals electricity, and it is far better to learn otherwise now than during an event.
If keeping part of the house running matters, ask any installer to be specific rather than general. Which circuits stay live, for how long at a realistic load, and does the battery recharge from the array while the grid is down. Configurations differ and the differences compound over multiple days.
Be concrete about the load you want to carry. A system that keeps a fridge, some lighting, and a few outlets going for days is a very different proposition from one attempting to run air conditioning or an electric range, and the honest version of that conversation belongs before the contract.
Ask how a battery sized for outage cover compares with one sized for everyday bill savings. They are frequently not the same system, and knowing which you are being quoted is essential before comparing prices between installers.
The incentive aimed at exactly this
California's Self-Generation Incentive Program provides incentives for qualifying distributed energy systems installed on the customer's side of the meter, including battery storage systems that can function during a power outage.
Its Equity and Equity Resiliency categories aim to ensure lower-income, medically vulnerable and at-risk for fire communities are at the front of the line for battery storage incentives. Depending on the category a customer qualifies for, the incentive is $850 per kilowatt hour under Equity or $1,000 per kilowatt-hour under Equity Resiliency.
Those figures are large relative to what residential storage costs, so establishing eligibility before designing a system is worth doing rather than leaving until the end. A project that looks unaffordable at full price can look very different if you qualify.
Ask an installer whether you might be eligible, then confirm with the programme, since criteria and performance requirements are set out in the SGIP Handbook. Note the obligations: applicants have one year after reserving funds to meet requirements, which include enrollment in a qualified Demand Response program.
The everyday economics, separately
Since April 15, 2023, customers applying for interconnection have taken service on the net billing tariff pursuant to CPUC decision D.22-12-056. Exported electricity is paid at its value to the electric grid, determined by the Avoided Cost Calculator, rather than at the retail rate.
That is the reason storage also makes sense financially and not just for resilience: it holds midday production, which is worth relatively little as an export, until the evening, when electricity is expensive. The same equipment does two jobs.
The utilities are required to publish uniform machine-readable spreadsheets containing the retail export compensation rates on their websites. Ask which values your installer used and check them against the published figures.
Ask for the bill savings, the storage arithmetic and the value you place on outage cover to be discussed separately rather than blended into a single number. Only two of those can honestly go in a spreadsheet, and mixing them hides which part of the case is doing the work.
What changed federally, and the battery incentive that remains
The 30 percent federal Residential Clean Energy Credit under Section 25D expired for property placed in service after December 31, 2025. A cash or loan purchase made now receives no federal credit, and a quote that still applies it is overstating your return substantially. Check any projection line by line rather than trusting a summary figure.
Section 48E survives at 30 percent and is available to third-party owners of residential systems under leases and power purchase agreements. The credit still exists, it simply no longer flows to a homeowner who buys the system. Expect lease providers to lead with that, and ask what they claim and what of that value actually reaches you in the rate offered, then confirm with a tax advisor.
California's Self-Generation Incentive Program continues to provide incentives for battery storage installed on the customer's side of the meter, including systems that can function during a power outage. Its Equity and Equity Resiliency categories are aimed at lower-income, medically vulnerable and at-risk for fire communities.
Depending on the category a customer qualifies for, the incentive is $850 per kilowatt hour under Equity or $1,000 per kilowatt-hour under Equity Resiliency. Applicants have one year after reserving funds to meet programme requirements, which include enrollment in a qualified Demand Response program, and further criteria are in the SGIP Handbook. Ask whether you might qualify and confirm with the programme rather than treating a sales answer as final.