Solar Buyback Plans Texas: Maximize Your Savings

Solar panels are a great long-term investment in saving money, but do you know there is a way to increase your return on investment even more, especially if you live in the sunny landscape of Texas? Yes, solar buyback plans Texas and net metering can potentially reduce electricity bills even more so you can achieve your goal of going solar.

If you live in Texas, harnessing sun energy is very easy because some cities of Texas, for instance, Housten have more than 130 sunny days per year. So, if your solar panel is generating more energy than you need, how can you take the maximum advantage of the surplus energy?

That’s where solar buyback plans and net metering come into play. With these programs, you can not only get bill credit but also earn real money. Therefore, in this Texas power guide, we will provide every detail you need to get the most out of your solar panel.

Net Metering vs Solar Buyback Plans: Understanding The Difference

If you are new to the concept of net metering and buyback plans, we have got you covered. On the days when the sun shines well and the solar panel generates more energy than required, the extra energy can be sold to local retail electricity providers.

In net metering plans, the retailers will give the solar owners energy credit on any excess energy while the buyback plans offer both bill credit and cash so are more beneficial.

When every kilowatt-hour produced by your solar system is not used, the extra energy is sent to the grid which can be used to purchase energy from the grid on overcast days or at night.

You can also store extra energy in batteries such as Tesla Powerwall or SunPower’s SunVault and use them at night and when the days are not so sunny. However, if you do not have extra money to pay for the costly storage batteries, buyback, and net metering plans are the right use of extra energy.

As solar buyback programs can earn the user a real catch, it is a good motivation for consumers to go solar. There are two types of solar buyback plans. Uncapped credit solar buyback plan and credit cap solar buyback plans.

In Uncapped Credit, there is no restriction on the amount of credit bill you receive for excess energy so this provides the most solar energy benefits to the consumers. On the other hand, the credit cap buyback has a limit of credit you receive on surplus energy.

 Utility companies that offer cap credit will not give you bill credits for solar energy generation that is more than the amount of energy used by your home during a particular month.

Additionally, Real-time net metering plans are more beneficial because you will get an immediate credit when your solar energy system produces more energy instead of summing it up for the end of the month.

Now that you know how solar buyback works, Let’s explore how you can get the best solar buyback plans in Texas.

Exploring The Best Solar Buyback Plans In Texas

Now Let’s dig into some top solar energy buyback plans in Texas that will give you a timely return on investment.

Gexa Energy Solar Buyback Plan

Enrolling in Gexa energy buyback plans lets you purchase electricity when solar production is low with the credits you earn during peak sunny days. Gexa Energy offers 12.45 ¢ / kWh similar to the retail price without TDU.

A few advantages of going with Gexa Energy are solar benefits such as a no solar Buyback limit and Unsed credit rolled over to the next month but they do not give cash-out options.

ONCOR Solar Buyback Plan

Oncor Electric is one of the leading companies that offers excellent solar buyback programs. With Oncor solar owners can earn credit for the excess energy they feed to the grid.

However, there are a few requirements you need to meet to enroll in the Oncor solar buyback program.

• The solar system must be new
• You must have a solar battery charger for surplus energy storage
• Your solar system must have a title angle between 0 degrees horizontal and a latitude of 15 degrees.
• You must sign an Interconnection agreement with Oncor
• Your system size must be a minimum of 3 KW or a maximum of 15

Austin Energy’s Buyback Plans for Residential and Commercial Setups

Austin Energy offers separate programs for residential and commercial owners. This retailer offers a fixed price for excess energy generation.

Residential consumers get a Value of Solar credit for every kWh they feed to the grid. The price is fixed at 9.91 cents/kWh. The total value is subtracted from your total electricity bill. 

If you have a solar system of 3 kW capacity, you are eligible for a cash rebate of $2500. This cash rebate is also applicable to multifamily buildings. Commercial consumers can also get Value of Solar credit. There are two options available, commercial solar smaller than 1 MW gets 9.91 cents/kWh, and 1 MW or more gets 7.94 cents/kWh VOS.

Other than Austins Enegry’s Value of Solar Program, there are two options consumers can opt for, Performance-based Incentive and Capacity-based incentive. In PBI, the solar PV system can get credit for every kWh produced over five years, and in CBI solar PV system gets an upfront incentive calculated according to the installed capacity.

Austin’s Program especially VOS is very great because of its predictability and stability because of compensation.

Solar Host Plan By CPS Energy

If you are a resident of San Antonio, CPS Energy has an outstanding Solar Host Program. It provides monthly bill credit for extra energy generated by the solar panel which helps to compensate for the energy expenses.

If the solar energy generated by the solar panel is below the consumption, the bill is credited at full price. For instance, if your home consumes 600 kWh from the grid and exports 550 kWh of extra energy, the bill is calculated for 50 kWh.

If the electricity generated is higher than consumption, the excess is credited at a rate that CPS Energy would have paid to purchase the electricity for the plants.

CPS Energy also has a solar rebate program for schools, small businesses, and non-profit organizations.

This incentive includes $0.60/watt for a capacity up to 25 KW and $0.40/watt for a capacity above 25 KW to a maxim size of 100 KW.

Chariot Energy’s Buyback Programs

Chariot Energy offers Two plans, Rise Plan and Shine Plan for 12, 24, and 36 months. Rise plans have rates similar to retail kWh prices without TDU charges and Shine plans have rates based on real-time wholesale market prices. Both these programs have no solar buyback limit and unused credits are rolled over to the next month.

Green Moutain Energy’s Renewable Plans

Green Mountain Energy has some of the best buyback plans in Texas. There are 3 renewable reward plans,

1. Renewable Reward Solar Credit 12,
2.  Renewable Rewards Essential 12,
3. Renewable Rewards 36

In Reward 36, the bill credit is according to the monthly usage of electricity from the grid and the credit is not rollable to the next month. For Solar Credit 12, the credit is rolled over and there is no solar buyback limit.

Final Recommendations

Texas is a center of renewable energy so if you want to go green, make sure to contact a good retail electricity provider because several providers offer various Texas solar buyback plans.

Comparing different Texas REPs is the best practice. However, with this simple guide, you will be able to get an overview of the best solar buyback plans in Texas.

 Lastly, must consider your location, the size of the system, electricity provider, and energy consumption before opting for any buyback plan.

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