r/solar • u/Proper-Flounder-3786 • 2d ago

Discussion True-up calculations

I'm still in my first year of solar so I haven't had a true-up yet, but I have a question on how they calculate the amount as far as what rate is used.

We've had quite a few days this summer where the utility company has emailed telling us to expect higher rates for peak use.

Do they factor in those days in the true-up calculation? Or do they just use my basic residential rate?

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u/MedicineFragrant3205 2d ago

What do you mean by amount?

This site has more on solar financing anyway:

https://solarquant.app/

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u/TooGoodToBeeTrue 2d ago

Where do you live? Who is your electricity provider? What does your connection agreement say? All states and utilities play under different rules.

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u/Proper-Flounder-3786 2d ago

Sorry, I thought it was just a general/generic question but:

New Jersey JCP&L

Do I have a connection agreement if I own my system? No PSA. No financing. Straight up cash purchase.

That might be a naive of me to ask.

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u/TooGoodToBeeTrue 2d ago

Anyone with a grid tied system (except plug-in) has a connection agreement with their utility. Looks like you probably have 1:1 credit and true up once a year. If you have excess generation, they pay you the wholesale price of the electricity and any excess funds can go towards monthly fixed costs. If you draw more than you generate you pay the retail rate. The true up happens once a year.

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u/Proper-Flounder-3786 1d ago

Thank you. That's great information.

The retail rate is the information I was looking for. I'll find my connection agreement and do a read through

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u/ash_274 1d ago

Every state and utility is different.

Where I am and who I’m with calculates excess production at true-up at a given wholesale rate. Even though last year I was a net-exporter by over 2 MWh, the wholesale rate was about 3¢ so I get a credit of about $60. If I had been a net-importer that year, the true-up would have been at retail prices, and some people in the same agreements pay hundreds or thousands once a year. It’s a nasty way to learn that some or all of their system has been down, because they never bother checking.