Let us Analyze Your Solar True-Up

Yes, and no—it depends on which solar net-energy-metering policy you are on. With NEM-2, all solar customers are put on an annual True-Up billing cycle. They pay once at the end of the year, but still receive monthly statements from their utility provider (shown above) to show their net energy consumption balance for the year. You will be required to pay the minimum monthly charges to your utility provider each month, these include service charges and gas charges. This gives solar customers a good idea of what to expect at the end of their 12-month billing cycle.

 California’s new policy (NEM-3), applies to customers who signed a solar contract after April 14th of 2023. These customers are required to pay any net debits at the end of each month, whereas net credits roll over to the next month. Solar customers under NEM-3 may accrue net credits in certain months of the year (for example September), and have larger debits throughout most of the year.

Generally, it is a good idea to either check your monthly NEM billing statements that come in the mail or online at least every few months. Alternatively, you can log in to your Know True-Up® account if you are a Solar Negotiators client to see how your annual true-up balance is trending. Catching a large balance early on and correcting any production issues or consumption habits can significantly reduce the chances of receiving an unexpectedly large true-up bill at the end of your 12-month cycle.

Most solar customers have solar panels installed on their roof hoping to minimize or even completely eliminate their need to pay for energy. Although it is frustrating and confusing to receive a high annual statement from your utility company after going solar, it is very common. These issues arise from either the installing contractor or the solar customer not catching performance issues, which may impact the amount of annual production the system is expected to perform.

Solar maintenance is required to maintain efficiency of the system and performance issues will happen after the solar installation process is completed. Many companies offer limited solar labor warranties, but fail to deliver when issues arise.

On the other hand, solar customers may have increased their energy consumption after going solar. Their solar system was designed to offset the amount of annual energy consumption they used prior to going solar, so if they change their usage habits, this can often lead to higher annual bills.

Lastly, solar customers are still subject to utilities increasing the price per watt that they charge for pulling energy from the grid. Even though your energy consumption may not have changed and the solar may be producing what it was expected to, you may still see your true-up amount rise on an annual basis.

Know True-Up® is a proprietary software that was developed by the owners of Solar Negotiators. It was designed to help minimize the chance of a solar customer ending up with a high, unexpected bill at the end of their 12-month solar billing cycle. With Know True-Up® monitoring services, you will receive a weekly or monthly energy report emailed to you. This is done by looking at both energy consumption and solar inverter production together to determine the possible causes of high true-up balances and trends related to poor consumption habits. The software is built to flag solar customer accounts that are trending for a higher-than-expected true-up balance before year’s end to address issues early on and get our customers back on the right track to energy savings.