Glossary · Rules and the grid

What Is Solar Self-Consumption? Using Your Own Solar Power

Self-consumption

Using the solar power you generate in your own home, as it's made or from a battery, instead of sending it to the grid. Plug-in solar is built for it.

Where a plug-in system's output goes (example)

  • Used at home: 80%
  • Sent to the grid: 20%
An example split, the default in our calculator, not a measurement: the share used at home saves you money; what goes to the grid may earn nothing with a plug-in system.

At a glance

Idea
Solar power is used first for local consumption
Not the same as
Self-sufficiency: how much of your needs solar covers
Versus net metering
Net metering credits exports over a longer period
In SB 868
A device must be intended to offset on-site consumption

Self-consumption policies rest on the idea that solar electricity is used first for local consumption, according to the IEA’s photovoltaic programme in its review of self-consumption policies. The same report warns not to confuse it with self-sufficiency, which describes how much of a home’s needs the solar covers.

How is it different from net metering?

Under net metering, the Department of Energy explains, system owners are compensated for the solar power they export to the grid; the IEA report describes it as offsetting production and consumption over a longer period, up to a year or more. With self-consumption, what counts is the power you use in the moment.

Why does it matter for plug-in solar?

Plug-in systems are built for it. California’s SB 868 only covers devices intended to offset the customer’s on-site electricity use. So the savings depend on running things while the sun is out: a fridge, a router, a home office. Our plug-in solar calculator lets you set the share you use at home and counts power sent to the grid as worth nothing.

Published by the Plugged Sun editorial team

Sources

  1. Review and Analysis of PV Self-Consumption Policies (IEA-PVPS T1-28:2016) (Official document, IEA Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme, 2016)
  2. Homeowner's Guide to Solar (Official document, US Department of Energy, 2026)
  3. SB 868 (Wiener), as amended April 7, 2026: bill analysis (Official document, California Assembly Committee on Utilities and Energy, 2026)

Where Self-consumption comes up