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I happily have two solar systems and I have wondered this for a long time. Why can't I buy electricity generated from PV panels that an energy provider operates

I happily have two solar systems and I have wondered this for a long time. Why can't I buy electricity generated from PV panels that an energy provider operates without putting those panels on my house? Why isn't the price to buy solar generated electricity from my utility company comparable to buying from a roof top solar company? I would assume that installing bespoke aftermarket systems one house at a time would not have a cost advantage over a project built to scale? I don't want to operate my own utility, just buy cheaper greener power.

ThatPlayer 3y ago
Solar is only cheap during the day. For the rest of the time, you still need other power plants, especially because during peak hours of 4-9pm, there's no solar. During peak solar, California have so much power that it is exported [0]. But you can't turn off natural gas generators, because they're slower to ramp up and down. With so much solar, gas has to be able to quickly ramp up to meet peak power. This is a problem they call the duck curve [1]. California doesn't need more solar, it needs more batteries. That's why the residential power buyback plan changed to incentivize batteries rather than just allowing 1:1 rates (new NEM 3.0). You probably got solar panels before that, as that changed just this year. With the old NEM2 1:1 rates, you're using the grid as a free battery during the night. [0] https://www.eia.gov/electricity/gridmonitor/dashboard/electric_overview/balancing_authority/CISO https://www.eia.gov/electricity/gridmonitor/dashboard/electr... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duck_curve https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duck_curve