Solar: self-consumption vs export — where the money actually is
A rooftop system that quietly exports at the buy-back rate leaves money on the table. The value is in the units you use yourself.
Why export is worth less than you think
Under most net-metering rules — and explicitly under California's NEM 3.0 — the rate you are paid for exported solar is lower than the rate you pay to buy power back. So every unit you export instead of using is a small loss against self-consumption.
Self-consumption is the real prize
A unit of solar you consume on-site offsets the full retail rate you would otherwise have paid. Matching your generation to your daytime load — shifting flexible demand into sunlight hours, or adding storage — raises the share you self-consume and lifts the whole system's return.
How the report sizes it
Baseline reads your exported units and your marginal buy-back rate straight from the bill, and shows the gap between exporting and self-consuming — and, where it makes sense, the payback on a system sized to your usage rather than your roof.
Frequently asked
Is exported solar paid the same as what I pay for power?
Usually not. Net-metering and NEM 3.0 buy-back rates are typically lower than the retail rate, so self-consuming a unit is worth more than exporting it.
How do I get more value from my solar?
Increase self-consumption: shift daytime-flexible loads into sunlight hours, and consider storage so evening use draws on stored solar rather than the grid.