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You have solar. Why is your bill still this high?

Solar lowers what you buy from the utility, but it rarely makes the bill disappear. Lower your bill explains where the money goes and what you can change.

The problem

Fixed fees, nighttime use, winter months and rate plans all keep bills above zero. Most bills don't explain any of that, so it's hard to tell a normal bill from a sign that something is wrong.

What the tool does

Short lessons walk you through your bill and your biggest energy users, with a checklist of quick wins for your home. Members can also add a bill to see their fixed charges, real price per kWh and solar credits worked out for them.

Your bill stays on your device. Bills are read on your own phone or computer and are never sent to an AI service. Only the numbers you confirm are saved.

Sample bill breakdown

Example month

Example

Fixed monthly charge$15.00
Energy bought from the grid (410 kWh)$57.40
Credit for solar sent to the grid (220 kWh)−$17.60
Total due$54.80

You pay 14¢ per kWh you buy but earn 8¢ per kWh you send back. Using more of your own solar while the sun is out is worth almost twice as much as exporting it.

Made-up numbers for illustration. Not a real member or a real bill.

Free lessons

Three lessons from the course, in full.

Why your bill isn't zero

DIY-SafeLicensed-Only

Most solar homes still get a bill, and that is normal. Solar lowers what you buy from the utility; it rarely erases every charge.

Four things usually keep a bill above zero:

Fixed charges. Most utilities charge a monthly customer or connection fee that no amount of solar can offset. Some also add minimum bills or fixed fees for solar customers.
Nighttime use. Panels make nothing after sunset. Without a battery, every evening and overnight kilowatt-hour (kWh) comes from the grid.
Seasons. Short winter days and low sun angles mean less production. Many homes make extra in spring and summer and buy more in winter.
How the system was sized. Most systems are designed to cover a set share of your past yearly use, often 80 to 100 percent. If yours was sized at 85 percent, the other 15 percent still shows up on the bill.

Your contract or proposal usually lists the expected yearly production and the share of use it was meant to cover. Compare that number to your actual yearly use to see whether the gap is the design or a problem.

Quick actions

Find the fixed monthly charge on your bill and write it down; that is your floor.
Look up the expected yearly production in your proposal or contract.
Run the production health check to confirm the system is making what it should.

Find your biggest users

DIY-SafeLicensed-Only

You can't cut what you can't see. Two free tools show where your power goes.

Your utility's usage page. Most utilities show hourly or daily use online. Look for spikes in the evening and on hot or cold days.
Your monitoring app. If your system has a consumption meter, the app shows home use beside solar production. Some systems only show production; that is common and not a fault.

For a closer look, a plug-in watt meter (about $20 to $30) shows what any plug-in device draws. Whole-home energy monitors that clip into the electrical panel show more detail.

Licensed-Only: installing any monitor inside your electrical panel.

Quick actions

Open your utility usage page and find your highest-use hours.
Check whether your monitoring app shows consumption, not just production.
Test two or three suspect devices with a plug-in watt meter.

Always-on power

DIY-SafeLicensed-Only

Devices that stay plugged in draw power around the clock. These standby loads often make up 5 to 10 percent of a home's use.

Common sources: TVs and game consoles, cable and streaming boxes, computers and printers, chargers, and older appliances with clocks or displays.

Smart plugs and power strips can cut standby power on a schedule. Some smart plugs also show how much a device draws.

Quick actions

Look at your utility usage page at 3 a.m.; that number is roughly your always-on load.
Put the TV and entertainment area on a switched power strip.
Unplug or replace devices you don't use.

Free tip

Find your floor first

Look for the fixed customer or connection charge on your bill. No amount of solar removes it, so that number is the lowest your bill can go. Knowing it makes every other line easier to judge.

Be first in line when it opens

SolarTriage is opening to owners by invitation. The working tools are for signed-in members; this page only shows a sample.

Request an invite