Tempe receives the same 300-plus days of sun as the rest of the Valley, and SRP customers here face the same core solar economics as Mesa and Gilbert: high summer cooling loads create real consumption to offset, but SRP’s export compensation rate of $0.0345/kWh means the system needs to be designed for self-consumption rather than grid export. For Tempe homeowners with average or above-average consumption — especially those with EVs, pool pumps, or year-round AC — a well-sized solar system can meaningfully reduce monthly SRP bills. The key variables are which SRP rate plan you land on, how accurately the system is sized to your actual consumption, and whether battery storage pencils out for your usage pattern.
Salt River Project is the sole utility for virtually all of Tempe’s residential addresses. SRP’s solar rate framework has two categories: demand-based plans and export-based plans.
Demand-based plans (Customer Generation and Average Demand) offer lower per-kWh energy rates but add a monthly demand charge tied to your highest 30-minute or 60-minute on-peak usage interval during the billing period. A single spike — a pool pump cycling on while the AC runs hard on a July afternoon — can drive the demand charge well above what you’d expect. These plans reward disciplined usage behavior and pair well with battery storage that can smooth peak demand.
Export-based plans (Time-of-Use Export and EV Export) eliminate the demand charge but compensate solar exports at just $0.0345/kWh — a rate SRP updates annually rather than locking for 10 years. Systems on export-based plans need to be sized to minimize exports, not maximize them.
For most Tempe homeowners, an installer who models both plan types against your actual usage history will give you the clearest picture of which option produces better 10-year outcomes. Battery storage changes the math significantly for demand-based customers by absorbing the production peaks that would otherwise be exported at the low export rate.
Residential solar systems in Tempe typically run 6kW–10kW, sized to cover annual consumption without significant export overhang. Battery storage is increasingly common for SRP customers who want to maximize self-consumption and, on demand-based plans, manage peak demand charges. Before comparing quotes on price per watt, evaluate which SRP rate plan each installer is recommending, their projected self-consumption percentage, and their track record with SRP interconnection — SRP’s separate interconnection process adds several weeks to activation timelines and requires installer familiarity with SRP-specific paperwork.
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