What if electricity cost more when the sun was shining?

Many utilities are using new electronic “smart meters” to adjust the price of electricity as often as every hour, to reflect supply and demand. And charging more when electricity is in short supply can be good news, increasing the value of solar by 33 percent or more.

Time-of-use (TOU) pricing is a different billing method for electricity, where the customer pays based on the time of day of using electricity rather than a flat rate per kilowatt-hour consumed. The premise is that electricity is more expensive when in high demand (e.g. by air conditioners in the afternoon on hot, sunny days) and that pricing accordingly will help reduce demand.

via Hourly Electricity Pricing Boosts Value of Distributed Solar by 33 Percent | john-farrell-ilsr.