But it was the utilities who suggested solar users could get compensated by putting power back into the grid. So now there’s a fee for this? 
I haven’t even looked at energy storage. How mature is the space?
i don’t know the history, but i think told the utilities they had to pay for the solar power. So they did and then told the utilities to tell their solar users. Now the CPUC taketh away. 
Blame Newsom. 
storage is mature-ish. Some safety things have happened, but lots people have storage in their garage, which have then been aggregated into what they call virtual power plants (VPP)
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I may call the installer back and see about adding south facing panels. Due to free range cows and mule deer the panels would need to be elevated and thus would be susceptible to wind requiring substantial anchoring. This was the reason the installer gave for not wanting to do it but really I think it’s just that they’re not used to doing it and didn’t want the extra bother. Per my latest bill my production predictably plunged but I still generated 5x what I used. Despite that I failed to break even. This not only illustrates the importance of south facing panels but also the fact that solar really makes no sense when your usage is low. As stated previously I’m ahead on the system but just barely.
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You need an electric car to increase electric usage.
Kidding! We know how you feel about EVs 
Even at 0.05 a kWh the utility loses money on folk’s solar panels as it has little to no effect on the baseline load they need to contract for. They can’t turn around and sell it for double. So they need to raise prices for everyone else. Increasing usage, whether by pointing your house south, building a bigger house, buying an EV or all of the above increases your carbon footprint especially if the car is charged mostly at night which is typical.
In summary, to make a significant amount of money off of those solar panels you need to increase your carbon footprint and screw the poor.
hahaha you hit the nail on the head?
you know the best way to make money in CA demand response markets? be a heavy HVAC user during the peak period 4-8pm. All these libs have it wrong by doing energy efficient buildings. 
California is #1 again
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Solar has never made sense except for larger homes that use more than 1000kwh per month. A subsidy for the rich, just like the Tesla tax credit. Government needs to come up with a better way to promote solar and EV. Because right now they don’t make sense for most Americans. Especially ones that live in bad weather areas… most of the country
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GAF manufactures them in San Jose, CA; who would have thought?
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The problem with solar was never generation. It’s intermittency and a lack of economical storage.
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Solar Energy also suffers from lack of energy intensity. There is only so much you can capture from sun per square feet of a solar panel. And even if 100% is captured, sun sends very little energy per square feet, even lesser at higher latitudes.
At least if those panels are on buildings you don’t lay waste to large swaths of virgin land.
Of course between the rare earths mining and the ultimate disposal of tens of millions of panels the technology is still an environmental disaster. If battery banks are used for storage that only makes it worse.
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