TECO time-of-use rates and solar: does shifting help in Tampa?
Time-of-use pricing changes when your solar production is worth the most. Here is how to think about it before you enroll.
Standard residential pricing charges the same energy rate all day. Time-of-use pricing charges more during defined peak windows and less off-peak. For a solar owner, that changes which kilowatt-hours matter.
Why it matters for a solar home
A west-facing array produces later into the afternoon than a south-facing one. Under flat pricing that's slightly worse for total production. Under time-of-use pricing, late-afternoon output can land inside the expensive window and be worth more per kWh.
Where a battery changes the answer
Storage lets you charge on cheap solar mid-day and discharge during the expensive window instead of importing. That is the clearest financial case for a battery outside of backup power — but only if the peak/off-peak spread is wide enough to cover the round-trip losses and the hardware cost.
How to check before enrolling
- Pull twelve months of interval data from your Tampa Electric account.
- Bucket your usage into the utility's defined peak and off-peak hours.
- Re-price that same usage under both tariffs.
- Then layer in your modeled solar production by hour, not by month.
If the answer is close, stay on the simpler rate. Rate structures change; a design that only works on one tariff is fragile.
Related reading
Sources
Talk it through with a Tampa crew
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