When you hear the following sales pitches, be cautious.

A Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) means the solar company installs a solar system on your home, and you pay for the electricity it generates. However, under NEM 3.0, the amount of electricity your system produces is not the same as the amount you actually use.

For example, if your system generates 30 kWh during the day, but your battery can only store 10 kWh, the remaining 20 kWh must be either used immediately or sent to the grid. Under NEM 3.0, any excess electricity is sold to the utility at just a few cents per kWh, while you still have to pay the PPA provider 20-30 cents per kWh for all the electricity generated.

This means the more electricity your system produces during the day, the more money you actually lose!

If a solar PPA salesperson fails to warn you about this and simply tells you that utility rates are 40 cents per kWh, while their PPA rate is only 20-30 cents, making it sound like a better deal, then they are either too incompetent to do the math or are deliberately misleading you into this trap.

This is why we believe PPA is the worst solar option you can choose.