Does NEM 3.0 apply to LADWP customers?

No. LADWP is a municipal utility outside CPUC jurisdiction and operates its own solar billing and interconnection rules. Current LADWP terms should be confirmed for the specific project.

Is it better to wait for solar policies to improve?

There is no universal answer. Compare the current project economics with the cost of waiting, and use current utility rules, equipment pricing, roof condition and household usage rather than assuming future policy changes.

Do I need to replace my roof before solar?

If the roof has limited remaining life, replacing it before solar can avoid the later cost and disruption of removing and reinstalling the array. The decision should be based on roof condition and expected remaining service life.

Is solar still worth it under NEM 3.0? Reddit’s math, checked by an installer

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Last updated: August 26, 2026

Since California's NEM 3.0 billing rules took effect, r/solar has hosted a running argument: solar is dead, solar is fine, solar is fine only with a battery. All three camps show up with spreadsheets. We design and install solar across LA and Orange County (CSLB #1031989 & #1055444), so here's which parts of the Reddit consensus survive contact with real projects — including one big LA-specific fact most threads miss.

Reddit claim: NEM 3.0 killed solar in California

Verdict: Wrong — but it killed the old way of designing solar. The kernel of truth: NEM 3.0 cut the value of electricity exported to the grid by roughly 75% versus the old net-metering rules. A system designed the pre-2023 way — oversized, exporting heavily at midday — now has genuinely worse economics, and threads that model that design reach grim conclusions honestly. What changed is the design goal: under NEM 3.0 you size for self-consumption, shift usage into solar hours, and usually pair storage so evening usage runs on your own stored power instead of peak-rate grid power. Same roof, different math. High California retail rates are still doing the heavy lifting in the payback calculation.

Reddit claim: under NEM 3.0 you have to get a battery

Verdict: Mostly right. "Have to" is strong, but for most SCE-territory homes the battery is what restores the economics: it soaks up midday production that would otherwise export at low credit and discharges it during expensive evening hours. Homes with heavy daytime usage (home offices, pool pumps, daytime EV charging) can still pencil without storage. The battery question is really a usage-pattern question — which is why we ask for your actual bills before answering it.

Reddit claim: payback is 15+ years now — not worth it

Verdict: It depends — and check where the poster lives. Payback claims on Reddit range from 5 to 20 years, and most of the spread is explained by utility territory, rate plan, usage pattern, and system design — not by anyone's spreadsheet being wrong. A well-designed solar-plus-battery system serving a home with real evening usage in SCE territory sits at the favorable end; an oversized export-heavy design sits at the grim end. Treat any single payback number in a thread as one data point from one house on one rate plan.

Reddit claim (the one most threads miss): all of California is on NEM 3.0

Verdict: Wrong — and it matters a lot in LA. NEM 3.0 is a CPUC decision that applies to investor-owned utilities: SCE, PG&E, SDG&E. LADWP is a municipal utility and is not governed by it — LADWP runs its own solar billing program with different export treatment. Millions of LA residents are LADWP customers, which means a huge share of NEM 3.0 doom-posting simply doesn't apply to them. If you're in LADWP territory, your solar math is different (in ways worth checking at design time, since utility programs evolve). This is the single most valuable correction we make in LA solar consultations.

Where Reddit can't help you

Reddit can debate NEM 3.0; it cannot see your utility, your rate plan, your last twelve bills, your roof orientation and age, or whether an EV or heat pump is coming. A useful solar design review pulls those into one plan before you compare proposals.

Before using someone else's payback math

Confirm utility territory: LADWP and SCE require different billing assumptions.
Use your own interval or bill data: daytime and evening usage can materially change the value of storage.
Check roof condition: include reroofing when the roof will not comfortably outlast the solar array.
Model future loads: EV charging, heat pumps, pool equipment and electrification can change system sizing.
Compare solar-only and solar-plus-battery: use the same assumptions in both scenarios rather than copying another homeowner's result.

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FAQ

What actually changed under NEM 3.0?
Compensation for power you export to the grid dropped sharply. Power you consume directly (or store and consume later) still offsets full retail rates — which is why design shifted toward self-consumption and storage.

I'm on LADWP — does NEM 3.0 apply to me?
No. LADWP is a municipal utility outside CPUC jurisdiction and runs its own program. Confirm current LADWP terms at design time; they differ meaningfully from SCE's.

Is it better to wait for policies to improve?
Waiting has costs too — every year without solar is a year of full retail bills, and incentive programs change in both directions. We'd rather show you the math for now versus waiting than hand you a slogan either way.

Do I need to replace my roof first?
If the roof is in its last decade, usually yes — removing and reinstalling panels for a reroof later is expensive. See our roof-before-solar fact-check.

The claims above paraphrase recurring positions in public Reddit communities (r/solar). No individual posts or users are quoted.

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