If you're adding a home battery, it's worth knowing there's a rebate that may help pay for it: PG&E's Permanent Battery Storage Rebate, or PBSR. It's the main battery rebate still available to homeowners in our area today.
It's aimed at a specific group of customers, so the first step is simply finding out whether your home is eligible.
What the rebate is
The Permanent Battery Storage Rebate is a PG&E program that helps offset the cost of installing home battery storage. In exchange, your battery takes part in what's called a Virtual Power Plant, or VPP.
A VPP is a simple idea: when the grid is strained during a peak event, thousands of home batteries can each send a little stored power back to help, and the homeowners get compensated for it. Your battery still does everything you bought it for, powering your home in the evening and backing you up during an outage. The VPP just lets it pitch in during those occasional peak events, and you're paid for the energy it contributes.
Who qualifies
This is worth checking early, because the program is narrow by design. The rebate targets customers in high fire-threat areas who have experienced repeated Public Safety Power Shutoffs. In practice, that's a fairly small group, and many North Bay homeowners won't meet the threshold.
The good news is that it's quick to find out. An address lookup tells you whether your home is eligible, so you don't have to guess. Checking takes a minute, and it's the right first step before counting on the rebate as part of your plans.
It's worth going in with clear expectations. Because the eligibility bar is high and the funding is limited, this rebate helps a relatively small number of homeowners, and it isn't something to bank your decision on. We'd rather tell you that up front than have you count on money that may not come through. If you do qualify, it's a welcome bonus. If you don't, your battery's value doesn't change.
How the VPP part works
If you do qualify, enrolling in the VPP is straightforward. Your battery manufacturer handles it, and both Tesla and Enphase run VPP programs right in their apps. Participation is voluntary and flexible: you opt in, and you can generally choose whether to take part event by event.
It's worth clearing up one common mix-up. The VPP tied to this rebate isn't the same as the older, less popular demand-response rate plans some rebates required in the past. This is a more voluntary, opt-in arrangement through your battery company, which most homeowners find easy to live with.
How the timing works
The rebate comes into the picture after your battery is installed and running, once your system has received Permission to Operate from PG&E. So it's not something that changes your upfront pricing on day one. It's a rebate you pursue once your system is live, you've confirmed you qualify, and you've enrolled in the VPP.
Availability is also limited, and rebates are offered on a first-come basis while funding lasts, so if you do qualify, it's worth acting while spots remain rather than waiting.
How SolarCraft helps
We want to be straight with you about our role here, because it matters. If a battery is in your plans, we'll help you check whether your address qualifies for the rebate, and we'll provide the documentation on our end to support your application. We don't submit the application for you. Your battery company and PG&E handle enrollment, and we're happy to point you in the right direction and support you with what we can provide.
We take that honest approach on purpose. Rebate programs like this one have strict eligibility requirements and limited funding, and we'd rather set clear expectations than promise something outside our control.
If you don't qualify, solar and a battery still pay off
Whether or not you qualify for this rebate, a home battery is a strong addition to a solar system. It lets you use your own solar power in the expensive evening hours and keeps your home running during an outage, and those benefits show up on your bill and in your peace of mind regardless of any rebate. The rebate is a nice bonus for the homeowners it fits. It was never the reason to add storage in the first place. Our post on how battery storage powers your evenings and outages covers the everyday value a battery brings.
We've been guiding North Bay homeowners through solar and storage, rebates and all, since 1984. We're 100% employee-owned; we've installed more than 9,000 systems across Marin, Sonoma, and Napa, and we're licensed as a General Contractor (B) and Electrical Contractor (C-10). We were also one of the first companies in California to earn the state's C-46 solar license, so you have a local team to help you understand your options and what genuinely applies to your home.
Curious whether the rebate fits your home, or just want to talk batteries? Contact SolarCraft or call Sonoma/Napa 707.778.0568 or Marin 415.382.7717.
