Earlier quoted context omitted.
You are correct that if you use your energy before it gets on the grid you are fine. But that is quite hard for most people to accomplish, most people are not at home during daytime when the panels generate most. The time my washing machine actually consumes energy warming up the water is relatively short. The largest part of the power consumption of my home owners association is spent on lighting, the other part on…
Silicon Valley is coincidentally a place where home-time and solar-peak kind of coincide. My brother's solar panels peak in the late afternoon all summer, when he's programmed the air conditioning to come on.
As European I wonder if you really need a/c in Silicon Valley? I've never been there but from weather averages it seems that the climate is comparable with Paris where a/c's are absolutely not common. Even in more southern cities like Barcelona many people don't use a/c.