I'm not the company that sold you the system. That's the point.

An audit answers the question most solar owners can't: "Is this thing actually working for me?" Six data points tell the whole story: year-over-year consumption, year-over-year production, install date, current utility rates, your solar payment, and any true-up costs.

From those, the math falls out: yearly consumption × current utility rate = what you'd pay without solar. Subtract your annualized solar payments and true-ups = your real savings. Compare production to consumption = whether you're over- or under-producing, and whether usage changes (new EV? teenager with a gaming rig?) have outgrown your design. My audit also reviews your agreement terms against what's fair and flags rebates you're leaving unclaimed — SDCP funds, VPP enrollment, the works. If you've had solar 2+ years and never checked, you're overdue.

The true-up is your annual settle-up with the utility for energy your system didn't cover. Surprise bills almost always trace to one cause: your usage grew past your design. New EV, hot tub, home office, kids getting older, more AC in a hotter summer — the system was sized for the life you had, not the life you have.

Sometimes it's the design's fault (sized to a single bill instead of real usage data), and occasionally it's underproduction from a failed component. An audit separates the causes in about an hour: production data tells us if the system is healthy; consumption data tells us if your life outgrew it. The fix ranges from mode changes and habit shifts (free) to added panels or battery (an investment that beats paying the utility forever). What you shouldn't do is just quietly pay it every year.

Your app (Enphase, Tesla, SolarEdge, or your PPA provider's) shows production and, with a battery, storage behavior. The one metric that matters: production versus the same period last year. Weather varies, seasons swing — but if production drops significantly in a short window or year-over-year with similar weather, a panel or inverter likely needs service. That's genuinely the only failure mode solar-only systems really have.

Battery acting weird? Check the mode first — standby/backup (saves for emergencies), self-consumption (drains nightly), and time-of-use (follows rate schedules) behave completely differently, and a mode switch is the #1 "my battery is broken" false alarm. Not charging fully or dumping too fast on the right mode? Something's pulling more power than it can serve, or it needs service. Then you call — and if your installer is gone, that's what I'm here for.

Most California utilities now charge based on when you use power, not just how much. Power is most expensive 4-9pm — when everyone's home — often 2-4x the midday rate. This has literally changed how people live: laundry after midnight, AC off on sweltering evenings, pool pumps running at 2am even though they work better in daylight.

Solar + battery flips this completely. Your panels make power when it's nearly free (daytime), your battery deploys it when the utility charges the most (evening). Instead of arranging your life around rates, the system arranges the rates around your life. That freedom — using power when you actually want to — is one of the most underrated things solar buys you.

Deep breath — no. I've lived this from the inside (the company I worked with, KOTA, collapsed in 2024 despite doing right by customers). Here's what survives: all equipment warranties — panels (25-30yr), inverters (10-25yr), batteries (10-15yr) are held by manufacturers, not your installer. On a PPA or lease, the agreement itself is an asset that gets bought by another provider, warranties intact — you might not even notice the change beyond a new logo on the bill.

What you lose is the workmanship warranty — the free labor. Manufacturers will replace failed parts but may charge for the truck roll. Thousands of San Diego homes are "orphaned" like this right now, and it's exactly why I built my audit and service business: someone has to take care of these systems for the next 20 years. If that's you, reach out — you're not stranded.

Shockingly little — this is one place the sales guys undersell. Panels have no moving parts and run 25-30+ years. The honest maintenance list: watch your monitoring app (5 minutes a month), clean the panels once a year in low-rain areas like ours (before summer, after pollen season — de-ionized water and regular soap, never when panels are hot, or just hire a cleaner), and a system health check every 5-10 years.

The components that can actually need service over decades: inverters (that's why warranty length matters — 12.5 vs 25 years is a real difference) and batteries (10-15 year warranties). The panels themselves? They'll likely outlive your roof.

Under net billing — yes, for almost everyone. Export credits were cut ~75%, so selling your excess solar to the grid is a losing trade most of the year. A battery stores your own daytime power for your own nighttime use, which is now the whole game. Without one, you'd need to size solar to only ~60-70% of usage and accept a permanent utility bill.

Batteries also unlock the stackable money: SDCP's $3,000-$6,000 rebate, VPP yearly payments, and those $1-$3.50/kWh August-September export credits. In 2026 California, the battery isn't the add-on. It's the strategy.