Compare competing quotes from vetted installers who work in Orange County, priced for your roof and your actual utility. On your own time.
Free · About two minutes · No obligation
Most of Orange County is Southern California Edison, with one significant exception: Anaheim runs its own municipal utility. Municipal utilities set their own solar rules and are not bound by the state Net Billing Tariff, so an Anaheim address and a Fullerton address are playing different games. Orange County Power Authority adds a third layer, supplying generation to a handful of member cities while SCE still delivers.
Coastal cities keep cooling load low and marine layer can trim morning production. Move inland toward Anaheim, Brea and Fullerton and summer heat starts driving the bill in a way it does not in Newport.
Ask any installer quoting you whether you are on SCE, Anaheim Public Utilities, or an OCPA generation plan, because the export rules differ in each. If the quote does not name your utility, it is working from an assumption.
Address, roughly what you pay, and what you are after. Enough to price a system properly.
Vetted installers price your system. You see them together, on the same basis.
Pick the quote that fits. The installers you do not choose never receive your details.
Southern California Edison and Anaheim Public Utilities. In this county the answer genuinely varies by address, so check your own bill rather than assuming from the city name.
No. Anaheim is served by its own municipal utility, and municipal utilities are not bound by the state Net Billing Tariff. If you are in Anaheim the export rules that changed the maths for most of California in 2023 do not apply to you in the same way, and a quote built on SCE assumptions is modelling the wrong utility.
For most households here with a monthly bill over $150 the economics work, but the honest answer depends on your roof orientation and shading, how much power you use and when, your rate plan, and how you pay for the system. Those move the result far more than the choice of panel brand. The number worth having is the one on a real design for your address, which is what comparing quotes gives you.
California residential solar is generally quoted around $2.40 to $3.25 per watt in 2026, putting a typical system in the high teens to mid thirties of thousands before financing. Adding a battery usually adds $10,000 or more depending on capacity. Note that the federal residential clean energy credit expired on December 31, 2025, so a purchased system in 2026 does not carry it. Leases and power purchase agreements are treated differently, because the system owner is a business.
Under the state Net Billing Tariff, power you export earns far less than power you buy back during the evening peak, so storing your own production is generally worth more than exporting it. Whether that justifies the added cost depends on your usage pattern and your rate plan. If your address is served by a municipal utility, different rules may apply entirely.
Usually six to fourteen weeks from signing to switch-on. The crew is on your roof for one to three days of that. The two waits that actually decide your timeline are the building permit and your utility's permission to operate, and neither is under your installer's control.
A few questions, then competing quotes from vetted installers serving Orange County.
