title: "Reading Your Electric Bill" updated: 2026-01-03 difficulty: Intro tags: ["Bills", "Rates", "Usage"] summary: "Learn the handful of bill terms you actually need: kWh, demand, TOU windows, and fixed charges."
Reading Your Electric Bill
Most solar and storage decisions start with a bill. You don’t need to become an accountant—just understand a few fields.
The core terms
- kWh: energy used over time
- kW: power (how fast you’re using energy)
- Fixed charges: unavoidable baseline costs
- Time-of-use: prices change by time of day
Quick tools
- Convert units with the Unit Converter
- Estimate cost changes with the Cost Estimator