80% of new California net billing solar systems now include a battery, SurgePV briefing reports

London, United Kingdom – November 6, 2026 – SurgePV, a solar design and proposal software company, today published a briefing for U.S. solar installers on how California solar quotes are changing now that most new systems in the state include a battery. The briefing brings together recent installation, pricing and utility data and is available at https://www.surgepv.com/research/us-california-quote-2026.

The central figure comes from Ohm Analytics data discussed at the pv magazine USA Week event. pv magazine USA reported on November 3, 2026 that 80% of systems installed under California’s net billing tariff, still widely called NEM 3.0 (Net Energy Metering 3.0), included a battery. Ryan Feeney of Ohm Analytics told the panel that the U.S. residential solar market was down 19% from a year earlier, while close to one gigawatt-hour of residential storage was installed in the second quarter of 2026, roughly level with the year before. Across the country, 49% of installed residential solar projects included a battery.

Why batteries are now standard in California

California’s net billing tariff took effect in April 2023. Under it, electricity a home sends to the grid is credited at hourly export values set by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), which are usually well below the retail price the household pays for grid power. Electricity used in the home avoids the full retail price. A battery lets a household store midday solar output and use it in the evening instead of exporting it at a lower value.

Quotes and installations measure different things

Quote data from the same period gives a different picture. EnergySage’s Home Electrification Marketplace Report for the first half of 2026 put the median quoted residential solar price at $2.57 per watt before incentives, about 3% higher than in the second half of 2025. On the EnergySage marketplace, 76% of homeowners said they were interested in battery storage, while 31% of quotes included one.

The briefing keeps these figures apart. The 49% and 80% figures count installed projects. EnergySage’s 31% counts marketplace quotes. The EnergySage period was also the first six months after the 30% federal tax credit for homeowner-owned solar systems ended at the close of 2025.

A solar bill does not reach zero

Since March 2026, residential customers of Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), including customers with solar, have paid a monthly base services charge of about $24. Customers enrolled in the CARE (California Alternate Rates for Energy) and FERA (Family Electric Rate Assistance) programs pay about $6 and $12. The charge applies whatever the size of the solar system, so the briefing treats a promise to “eliminate your electric bill” as a claim a proposal has to test, not a result.

What the briefing asks a 2026 proposal to show

• Energy used in the home and energy exported to the grid on separate lines, each valued at its own rate.
• The source and year of the export values used in the savings estimate.
• The monthly fixed charge as a cost that remains after solar is installed.
• A system price that does not assume the expired 30% homeowner tax credit.

Method

SurgePV compiled the briefing on November 5, 2026 from public sources: pv magazine USA’s report of the Ohm Analytics figures, EnergySage’s first-half 2026 marketplace data and PG&E’s published base services charge. SurgePV did not survey installers for this briefing and did not use its own customer projects. Each figure is credited to its original publisher.

Journalists and bloggers may quote the briefing with a link to https://www.surgepv.com/research/us-california-quote-2026 and a credit to the original publisher of each figure.

About SurgePV

SurgePV is solar design and proposal software for solar installers, EPCs (engineering, procurement and construction firms) and sales teams. In the software, a project runs from the roof layout and shade study through the production estimate to the customer proposal, using the tariff that applies to each job. SurgePV is headquartered in London, with offices in Ahmedabad, Cologne and Leeuwarden.

More information is available at https://www.surgepv.com.

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