Enter your annual home usage and your solar system's annual production to see your true energy independence percentage.
This measures annual offset via net metering, not moment-to-moment independence — true real-time self-sufficiency requires battery storage sized for overnight and cloudy-day use.
Under net metering, a solar system can offset 100% of your annual usage on paper even if you're drawing from the grid every night, because excess daytime production is credited against nighttime draw. True hour-by-hour independence — not relying on the grid at all — requires enough battery storage to cover the gap, which this calculator's self-use percentage starts to capture.
On an annual accounting basis under net metering, yes — but you'd still be drawing from the grid every night, just with credits offsetting the cost; a battery is required for genuine hour-by-hour independence.
Independence percentage still matters for resilience during outages and for planning battery capacity, even if the grid handles your bill-neutral accounting the rest of the time.