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California · Hayward
Solar in Hayward: one bill, two credit systems
Written by the Solar Learning Lab research deskUpdated August 23, 202611 min read
Hayward is not a one-utility solar calculation. PG&E owns the wires and bills the account. Ava Community Energy supplies generation. New solar produces delivery credits with PG&E and generation credits with Ava, then each side follows its own annual true-up. That is the local fact that should shape every proposal.
There is a second, less obvious trap. A project in the airport safety zone needs an FAA No Hazard finding before the City will issue a PV permit. A good contractor checks this before the design is treated as final. A bad one discovers it after the schedule is already promised.
Get the credit structure before the sales math
Use the estimator for a cautious size comparison, then ask a bidder to explain both PG&E and Ava sides of the account.
Estimate Hayward solarHayward solar runs on a split ledger
PG&E delivers electricity, issues one bill and handles the delivery side of credits. Ava is the community-choice generation provider. Under Ava's Solar Billing Plan, a system earns PG&E Energy Delivered credits for delivery charges and Ava generation credits for generation charges. Ava's program page says it plainly.
The true-ups are separate as well. Ava settles generation every April. PG&E settles delivery on its own annual cycle, which may be in a different month. You cannot model the account honestly as one undifferentiated net-metering balance. Ava's true-up description is the source.
PG&E automatically moves residential Solar Billing Plan customers to the Electric Home time-of-use rate. Ava also requires E-Elec. The Base Services Charge and non-bypassable charges do not disappear just because the solar meter is running backward at a moment in time. PG&E billing guidance describes that limit.
Ava adds real credits. They are not a blank check to export.
| Energy source | Type | Average price | What that means |
|---|---|---|---|
| PG&E benchmark | 2024 bundled residential average | 39.62¢ per kWh | A delivery-utility benchmark, not an Ava-inclusive rate. |
| Ava 2026 EEBC | standard residential export bonus | 0.9¢ per exported kWh | Locked for nine years for eligible voluntary 2026 interconnections. |
| Ava peak-hours bonus | non-CARE/FERA export bonus | 2.5¢ per exported kWh | For exports from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. |
| Ava CARE/FERA export bonus | separate Ava add-on | 1¢ per exported kWh | For eligible Ava customers. |
EIA Table 6 and Ava Solar Billing Plan. The table is a program snapshot, not a savings forecast.
For a standard residential system that interconnects in 2026, Ava's Energy Export Bonus Credit is 0.9 cent per kWh and the applicable amount is locked for nine years. Ava separately offers 2.5 cents per kWh for non-CARE and non-FERA exports between 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. CARE and FERA customers instead have a 1-cent Ava export bonus. Read the eligibility and timing.
Those are two types of bonus, on top of separate credit streams. They do not turn every exported kWh into a retail-rate offset. Ava says its net-surplus compensation rate is typically about 2 to 4 cents per kWh, while export credit value changes by program rules and time. Ava's NEM information puts the distinction on the record.
The airport safety-zone gotcha can stop a permit
If the property lies in Hayward's Airport Safety Zone, the City requires FAA approval before it will issue the PV permit. The process calls for a glare study with FAA Form 7460-1, a FAA finding of No Hazard and delivery of that finding to the City. Hayward's residential solar checklist gives the exact sequence.
Do not wait for final drawings to ask this. Check the address with the City GIS portal, which the checklist identifies, during the first site review. This is not an obscure optional review. It is a permitting precondition for the affected location.
The same checklist includes roof access and rapid-shutdown details: 3 feet clear from ridges and side edges, 18 inches on either side of valleys, plus a rooftop DC disconnect within 3 feet of the array access path if another rapid-shutdown method is not present. Layout constraints can change panel count.
Hayward's current listed permit fee is $454
The adopted FY 2026-27 schedule, effective July 1, 2026, lists $454 per system for residential photovoltaic systems up to 15 kW. The current schedule does not list a per-kW add-on above 15 kW for this residential line, so do not extrapolate the prior schedule's rule into a quote. The adopted fee schedule is controlling.
Hayward accepts digital submittals through e-Permits. Its checklist asks for a single organized PDF for plans and separate 8.5 by 11 PDFs for materials such as structural calculations. That specific handoff is a useful test of whether an installer actually knows the local process. Permit Center details.
The CEC reporting dataset lists Hayward as using a SolarAPP+ platform, but the City solar pages reviewed for this page do not describe the local SolarAPP+ flow. Treat the platform status as a useful signal, not a reason to assume every project receives an instant permit. CEC program data.
Production is straightforward. Billing is the hard part.
Our standardized downtown Hayward model produces 1,654.6 kWh per installed kW per year. July is highest at 171.0 kWh per kW, and December is 92.4. The solar resource is useful. The financial result still depends on the split PG&E and Ava treatment plus the household's timing.
July is the modeled high month at 171.0 kWh per kW. A system designed for onsite use has a different value than one designed to sell a surplus.
PVGIS v5.2 model run by Solar Learning Lab on August 23, 2026, NSRDB radiation database. Fixed south facing mount, 30 degree tilt, 14 percent losses, downtown Hayward coordinates. Your roof will differ. The benchmark comes from PVGIS. A real design has to test the roof, shade and expected load against it.
Make each bidder show both sides of the bill
Ask for separate assumptions for PG&E delivery credits, Ava generation credits, the interconnection-year EEBC and any applicable peak-hour or income-qualified bonus. If a model contains one generic export rate, it is not yet a Hayward model.
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Also ask for an airport safety-zone check in writing. It takes one line in a proposal. It can save a much uglier line later.
Use the calculator to test size, not to settle two true-ups
This is a screening tool. It cannot calculate PG&E and Ava credits interval by interval, stack the relevant adders or reconcile separate annual cycles. Use it to make the sales math less lazy, then demand a bill-specific model.
The upper end is the downtown Hayward PVGIS output. The lower end is 85 percent of it, a sensitivity check for a less favorable roof rather than a promise about production.
Cash quotes in Hayward cluster near $2.46 per watt, against a $3.50 national 2024 median (LBNL). Use your quote.
Assumptions you can change
Use the rate on your actual lease or PPA quote. There is no published statewide average we trust enough to hardcode.
Cash purchase
$8,610 after state credit
- Year 1 benefit
- $160/mo
- Payback
- 5 years
- 20 year net position
- $38,117
This is a screening estimate using California market inputs and a Hayward production model. It cannot model PG&E delivery credits, Ava generation credits, Ava bonuses, two true-up cycles or fixed charges.
Solar loan
$115/mo 15 yr payment
- Year 1 net
- $45/mo
- Upfront
- $0
- 20 year net position
- $26,002
Ask for cash price, financed price, dealer fee, APR and prepayment terms separately. The loan payment is a financing choice, not the system's value.
Lease / PPA
$0 down you buy the power
- Year 1 net
- $45/mo
- Upfront
- $0
- 20 year net position
- $14,620
Compare any lease or PPA payment and escalation schedule against a post-solar bill model that explains both PG&E and Ava. Do not accept one blended export assumption.
Estimates, not quotes. This tool uses California average retail-rate and market-cost inputs plus a Hayward PVGIS production run. It cannot reproduce PG&E and Ava credit streams, fixed charges, airport review, shading or your billing history. We are a solar installer and we also partner with other solar companies. See our disclosures.
We are a solar installer and we also partner with other solar companies.
Hayward solar questions
Why are there two credit streams in Hayward?
When are the true-ups?
What is the 2026 Ava export bonus?
Do all Hayward solar projects need FAA approval?
What is the Hayward residential solar permit fee?
Hayward document trail
Every operational claim above was checked against these pages on August 23, 2026.
Document trail: Hayward solar checklist, Hayward fee schedule, Ava Solar Billing Plan, Ava NEM page, PG&E Solar Billing Plan, CEC SolarAPP+ dataset, PVGIS, and CRS tax-credit note.
Get a Hayward estimate that does not collapse two utilities into one
Bring the bill, the roof details and the address. The airport-zone check belongs in the first conversation.
What does your monthly electric bill look like?
Hayward average is $161 per month (EIA, 2024).