Agile Electrification
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Aerial view of a hillside California home with a black rooftop solar array and a deckAerial view of a flat-roof home with a rooftop solar array in the California foothillsClose view of black solar panels on a shingle roof against a blue sky

Helping solar homes become grid partners

An industry coalition building a new deal between rooftop solar, the home electrification movement, and the grid.

We connect evidence-based insights to CA grid policy

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California homeowners are choosing rooftop solar.

Over 2 million CA homeowners have invested in rooftop solar. We are breaking down their barriers to supporting the grid.

Cumulative residential rooftop solar installed in California IOU territories, 2015–2025Installed base in gigawatts DC at year end, rising from 2.3 GW in 2015 to 6.4 GW in 2020 and 13.4 GW in 2025. Growth is steepest from 2021 through 2023 and flattens after NEM 3.0 in April 2023. Policy milestones marked: NEM 2.0 in 2016, the new-home solar mandate in 2020, NEM 3.0 in April 2023, and the end of the 25D tax credit in 2025.0 GW5 GW10 GW15 GW2016 · NEM 2.02020 · New-home solar mandateApr 2023 · NEM 3.02025 · 25D credit ends6.4 GW13.4 GW20152016201720182019202020212022202320242025
About this chart

Cumulative installed residential rooftop solar capacity at year end, MW-dc, PG&E, SCE and SDG&E combined; 13,407 MW at end of 2025. Source: CPUC California Distributed Generation Statistics, data through May 2026. Municipal utilities not included.

Solar homes are rapidly electrifying.

We modeled real Northern California homes across four upgrade paths. We found that heat pumps and batteries only pencil out when the home has cheap electricity to run them on, and rooftop solar is the one source whose cost stays flat while utility rates climb every year.

  • $51.7k20-year net present value of electrifying with solarvs. $42.1k for solar alone and $7.2k for electrifying on grid power
  • 65%less imported energy when a home electrifies with solar2.6× the reduction from solar alone (26%)
  • 78%of an average home's energy bill is already electricityElectrifying on grid power shifts more load onto the costliest, fastest-rising fuel
February 2025 · PDFSolar & Electrification: Flexible Pathways for Energy Independent Homes in CaliforniaNorthern Pacific Power + UC San Diego Design Lab · First installment of the Industry PlaybookRead the study

Batteries can convert homes to grid capacity.

We are building a unique living laboratory to engage real solar homes and homeowners in evaluating their path to electrification and potential to support the grid. By designing and testing novel program features we aim to rapidly improve policy while building a new deal for CA DERs.

  • >2mmrooftop solar systems installed
  • 315Kbehind-the-meter batteries
  • 15%battery attachment

People are different, context matters, and things change

Eric HeklerProfessor at UCSD

Get involved

Contractors, program builders, researchers and funders: tell us who you are and we will be in touch.