Here in California, the utilities are paying less and less for wind and solar generation from homes. The state is even actively cutting off old agreements where the utilities pay retail prices for home generation, which they have always protested against being required to pay.
The reason is simple: Demand for electricity is at its very least when the sun is shining most, which is actually logical and predictable. We don’t need a lot of heating, lighting, etc., when the sun is high in the sky at mid-day - the peak demand is after everyone is home from work, running lights, computers, laundry, TV, appliances, stoves, washers, water heaters, electric heaters, heat pumps, air conditioners, etc.
Yet all that installed solar piles on the generation, but now, due to its own abundance, it’s all mostly at the wrong time. Once the sun goes down, demand rises. The call it “The duck curve” (Cuz it looks like a duck.). Same with wind: Winds predominate in the afternoon. Great on hot days when afternoon temps are hot and air conditioners are cooling homes - except most people are at work, not home, anyway.
You can see from the yearly “duck curve” graphs below, the problem has gotten worse since solar became popular. Today the demand for power in mid-afternoon is very low, due to all the solar installations, so now the power companies are backing out of agreements to pay retail rates for power produced by homes. It probably costs them more to shut down their power plants every afternoon than they save from getting all that cheap solar, even at the wholesale price.
