What is Bay Area SunShares?

SunShares is a nonprofit program that makes it easier and more affordable for Bay Area residents to add solar and battery storage to their homes. We negotiate discounts with pre-vetted installers to pool their buying power - and they pass on the savings to you.

These discounts are available for a limited time each Fall, so if you've been considering adding solar and/or battery storage, there's no better time than right now to take advantage of what SunShares offers. The Bay Area SunShares program helps reduce the use of gas in our homes, improves our region's health and safety, saves money on electricity bills, and builds resilience to climate disruption, including power failures.

The 2025 SunShares program launches on September 15th!

IMPORTANT INFORMATION for 2025:

Social media is inundated right now with ads to "get solar before December 31st to take advantage of the 30% Federal tax credit". This is misleading! The 30% tax credit will only apply to installed systems that have been interconnected by PG&E by the end of the year. We value you, our SunShares Participants, as well as our Outreach Partners throughout the Bay Area, and we don't want anyone to be confused or disappointed by the reality of the dramatic change in the Federal Energy Tax Incentive which, until recently, was guaranteed to be available until 2032.

We want to caution everyone: be aware that is it unlikely that your system will be installed AND connected by PG&E by the end of the year (unless your project has already been scheduled), no matter what company you work with. Installers' calendars are rapidly filling and they can only guarantee to sign contracts and schedule the work, but it's more likely that the work will be completed in early 2026.

In spite of this, installing solar and battery storage still makes sense! The installers that Bay Area SunShares partners with offer an average discount of about 15%, which is better than no discount or credit at all if your project misses the end-of-year deadline. As long as you sign up for SunShares during the registration period, you will still get the discount regardless of when the project is completed. We are also gathering more information about financing, and other rebates and incentives to maximize your savings. Solar and battery storage are still great investments given the continual rise in PG&E rates and power outages.