PG&E Solar Customers: Are You Losing Money Charging Your EV at the Wrong Time?

Quick answer: compare your real NEM 2 credits before choosing day or night

There is no universal day-or-night winner. Start with your exact rate plan, then compare real solar surplus during charging, the export credit you give up by self-consuming that energy, and the import rate plus applicable charges for the same kilowatt-hours later.

If you have PG&E NEM 2.0, excess solar electricity exported during the day generally earns a credit tied to your applicable time-of-use retail electricity rate, subject to program rules and charges that cannot be offset. When you import electricity later, PG&E calculates charges at the rate for that time. The dollar credits and charges are reconciled on your NEM statements and annual true-up.

The few-cents-per-kWh explanation usually refers instead to Net Surplus Compensation at annual true-up when eligible customers have generated more kilowatt-hours than they consumed across their 12-month period. It is not the ordinary credit applied to every daytime export.

NEM 2.0 and California's newer Solar Billing Plan (also called the Net Billing Tariff or NEM 3.0) are different arrangements. The newer plan commonly values exported power differently, so do not use its export-credit figures to estimate a grandfathered NEM 2.0 bill.

First: a 5 kW solar system is not the same as 5 kWh

Kilowatts (kW) describe instantaneous power or a solar array's nameplate capacity. Kilowatt-hours (kWh) describe energy over time. A 5 kW system might produce 30 kWh on a favorable day, but actual output depends on season, shade, orientation, temperature, and equipment. Your utility meter records grid imports and exports; your inverter app may separately show total solar generation.

Example: 30 kWh generated, 10 used in daylight, 10 used overnight

Suppose solar produces 30 kWh over the day. Your house uses 10 kWh while panels are generating, so roughly 20 kWh is exported. At night you import another 10 kWh. You exported 20 kWh and imported 10 kWh, but your bill is not calculated by simply subtracting kWh and assigning the remainder a single rate.

For illustration only: if exports receive an applicable energy credit of $0.30/kWh, 20 kWh creates $6 in credits. If 10 overnight-imported kWh are charged $0.25/kWh, that is $2.50 in energy charges. The illustrated difference is a $3.50 energy credit BEFORE non-bypassable charges, base service charges, taxes, and other adjustments. These are hypothetical rates, not a quotation of today's PG&E tariff.

If instead the applicable daytime export credit were $0.20/kWh and the nighttime import price $0.30/kWh, the same energy flows would create $4 in export credits and $3 in energy charges: just $1 before additional charges. This is why knowing your actual rate plan and time-of-use periods matters.

Three different values that homeowners often confuse

1. Electricity used directly from your panels: you avoid purchasing that particular energy from the grid at that moment. Its economic value depends on what you otherwise would have paid and what export credit you give up by consuming it yourself.

2. NEM 2.0 export credits: electricity sent to PG&E generally earns a bill credit linked to the applicable time-of-use retail rate, with exceptions and non-bypassable charges. Credits may carry forward during the annual reconciliation period.

3. Net Surplus Compensation: if your total annual generation exceeds consumption under the program's eligibility calculation, PG&E uses a lower wholesale-based rate for eligible annual net surplus. Do not multiply every daily export by this rate.

Should you charge your EV in sunshine or overnight?

There is no universal winner. The useful comparison is the marginal cost of charging during each available period, including the credit you forgo by diverting solar electricity from the grid.

If your EV draws 6 kW and your panels are only producing 3 kW of excess solar at that moment, the other 3 kW may come from PG&E. Charging 'in the daytime' does not guarantee the EV is running exclusively on solar.

If you export at a relatively valuable rate in the afternoon but can import later at a substantially cheaper off-peak rate, exporting solar now and charging later can be financially advantageous under NEM 2.0. If nighttime rates are similar, daytime self-consumption may be competitive, particularly when accounting for non-bypassable charges on imported power.

For PG&E's EV2-A plan, the published off-peak window is midnight to 3 p.m. daily, with the highest-cost peak period generally 4–9 p.m. Thus both morning solar charging and overnight charging can fall within off-peak hours. Don't assume all daylight hours are cheap: late afternoon can enter a higher-price period.

If you have a different tariff such as E-TOU-C, E-TOU-D, or E-ELEC, read that rate schedule rather than assuming EV2-A's hours or prices apply. The best schedule can also change across seasons and with your electricity usage.

A simple 10 kWh EV charging comparison

Option A—charge from 10 kWh of otherwise-exported solar. If the applicable export credit would have been $0.25/kWh, you forgo $2.50 in credits. Direct self-consumption avoids buying those 10 kWh from the grid.

Option B—export those 10 kWh at $0.25/kWh, then import 10 kWh overnight at a hypothetical $0.20/kWh. You earn $2.50 in export credits and incur $2.00 in energy charges, an illustrated $0.50 advantage to overnight charging BEFORE import-specific charges and other billing details.

If the nighttime import price were $0.35/kWh instead, those 10 kWh would cost $3.50 and the comparison would favor daytime self-consumption by $1.00 before additional details. Actual results depend on solar surplus at the time, charging losses, utility rate schedules, and your NEM statement.

What changed on PG&E bills in 2026?

PG&E's residential solar-billing guidance describes a Base Services Charge beginning March 2026 that appears on NEM statements and cannot be offset by monthly generation credits. This means even an account with strong annual solar production can still owe fixed monthly charges. Review the current PG&E bill guide for amounts and any applicable discounts rather than relying on an old 'solar makes your bill zero' claim.

How to choose your EV charging schedule in five minutes

Find the exact rate-plan name on your PG&E statement. Verify you are enrolled in NEM 2.0, not the newer Solar Billing Plan. Then identify the on-peak, partial-peak, and off-peak hours for your tariff and season.

Review your inverter monitoring chart to identify genuine solar surplus—not just total panel production. Compare it with PG&E interval import/export data. Note that a 5 kW array does not deliver 5 kW all day.

For each proposed charging hour, compare the import rate you avoid by using solar directly with the export credit you would otherwise earn. If charging power exceeds solar surplus, include the price of additional imported electricity and EV charging losses.

Check your last annual true-up. If you regularly finish with substantial eligible surplus generation that receives wholesale-based compensation, using more solar electricity at home may improve economics. If you tend to owe energy charges at true-up, preserving higher-value export credits and shifting loads to low-price hours may be more attractive.

Finally, use the EV or charger timer to avoid expensive peak hours and recheck when seasons or rates change. A bill-specific comparison is more reliable than 'always charge at noon' or 'always charge at midnight.'

PG&E NEM 2.0: EV charging do's and don'ts

DO check the exact PG&E time-of-use tariff on your bill before choosing when to charge. DON'T assume everyone on NEM 2.0 pays the same rate.

DO compare the credit you would receive for exported solar power against the cost of importing the same energy later. DON'T assume exports are always worth only a few cents per kWh under NEM 2.0.

DO review your hourly solar surplus and use a charging timer when practical. DON'T assume a 5 kW system generates 5 kW of usable power all day.

DO look at your annual true-up and any non-bypassable or base service charges. DON'T mistake annual wholesale-based net surplus compensation for your routine NEM 2.0 export credits.

DO reassess your charging schedule when seasons or tariffs change. DON'T treat overnight or daytime charging as the cheapest choice for every household.

Three costly mistakes PG&E solar customers can avoid

Mistake 1: Treating all exports as a wholesale sale. Under legacy NEM 2.0, ordinary hourly export credits and annual net surplus compensation follow different rules. Read the exact account tariff.

Mistake 2: Charging through peak hours without checking your rate. For example, EV2-A generally has a 4–9 p.m. peak period; moving flexible charging away from that window may help, although the financial result still depends on your credits and charges.

Mistake 3: Ignoring true-up and fixed charges. An impressive solar production figure alone cannot tell you what you owe. Keep the final annual statement and compare bills over a full year.

Bottom line

On PG&E NEM 2.0, it is misleading to say that all daytime exports are immediately sold for pennies while every nighttime import is charged at full retail. NEM 2.0 credits generally reflect time-of-use retail energy values; the pennies-on-the-dollar annual surplus settlement is a different mechanism.

If you have a 5 kW system without a battery, the smartest EV charging decision comes from your actual PG&E rate schedule, your hourly solar surplus, your import/export history, and your annual true-up—not from a blanket rule about day versus night.

Frequently asked questions

Questions worth asking

• Am I on PG&E NEM 2.0 or the Solar Billing Plan?
• What is my exact PG&E time-of-use rate plan?
• How much surplus power do my panels produce during EV charging hours?
• Would daytime self-consumption replace a low-value or high-value export?
• Am I a net producer or net consumer at annual true-up?