How Net Metering Works for Home Solar
Net metering is how your utility credits the solar power you don't use right away. The rules differ by utility and change over time, and they shape how a system should be sized and whether a battery is worth it.
Call to see if your home qualifies(877) 565-3409Home Solar Line connects you with an independent solar provider. We don't sell or install anything ourselves. Calls may be recorded.
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Who this is for
Check all five before you call:
- You own the home (not renting)
- It's a single-family house or townhouse
- The roof gets full sun or only light shade
- Your power bill is over $100 a month
- The home doesn't already have solar panels
Renting, in a condo, apartment or mobile home, under heavy shade, or already have panels? This line can't help with those, so please don't call.
What happens when you call
- Answer a few quick questionsDo you own the home, how much is your power bill, how sunny is the roof.
- Get connectedIf your home fits, you're put through to an independent solar provider who serves your area.
- Talk it through, then decideThey look at your roof and usage and explain options. No obligation to buy.
The basic idea
Panels make the most power in the middle of the day, often more than the house is using. The extra flows out through your meter to the grid. At night and on cloudy days, power flows the other way.
Net metering is the billing arrangement that credits what you send out against what you take in. How generous that credit is decides a lot about what solar is worth on your home.
The main types of export rules
Full net metering
Each unit of power you export offsets a unit you buy, at or near the retail rate, with credits usually carried forward month to month.
Net billing
Exports are credited at a lower rate than you pay for power. Solar power used in the house is worth more than power sent out, so sizing to your own use matters more.
Time-of-use rules
The value of power you use or export depends on the time of day. Late afternoon and evening power is often worth more, which can favor west-facing panels or a battery.
Buyback arrangements
Some utilities buy solar output under a separate rate or program instead of netting it on your bill.
What solar doesn't remove from your bill
- Fixed monthly customer or connection charges.
- Minimum bills, where your utility has them.
- In some places, charges tied to grid access or your peak demand.
- Taxes and fees on the power you still buy.
Annual true-ups and leftover credits
Many utilities settle solar accounts once a year. Credits left at the true-up may be paid out at a low rate, rolled over, or lost, depending on the rules. That is one reason a system much bigger than your usage rarely pays off.
How export rules change the design
Size to your usage
When exports earn less than you pay for power, the best system usually matches what the house uses rather than filling the roof.
Consider a battery
Where exports are worth little or evenings are expensive, storing daytime power for later can be worth more than exporting it.
Think about panel direction
Under time-of-use rules, west-facing panels that produce later in the day can be worth more than their total output suggests.
Shift some usage
Running the dishwasher, laundry or EV charging while the sun is up uses solar power directly.
Where to find your utility's rules
- Your utility's website: search for its net metering or distributed generation page.
- Your state's utility commission, which approves the rules and publishes changes.
- The provider: ask which rate and export rule their savings estimate assumes, and whether a change is pending.
- If rules change, ask whether existing solar customers keep their current terms for a time.
Net metering by state
How the states this line serves handle exported power, in brief:
- California: Rooftop customers of the big investor-owned utilities moved to a net billing tariff in 2023, which credits power sent back to the grid at lower rates than the old net metering did.
- Colorado: Colorado has net metering for customers of its investor-owned utilities, and many co-ops and municipal utilities offer their own versions.
- District of Columbia: DC has net metering and one of the more active solar renewable energy credit (SREC) markets in the country.
- Florida: Florida's large utilities offer net metering for home systems, and the state has had sales and property tax exemptions for residential solar.
- Hawaii: Hawaii has some of the highest electricity rates in the US, and export programs on the islands are limited, so many new home systems are designed around a battery.
- Illinois: Illinois has run a state program, Illinois Shines, that pays for the renewable energy credits a home system produces.
- Indiana: Indiana replaced traditional net metering for new systems with a lower credit for power sent back to the grid, so a system sized to your own usage makes more sense there than a large one.
- Kentucky: Kentucky's net metering rules changed in recent years, so how exported power is credited depends on your utility and when a system is connected.
- Maryland: Maryland has net metering and a market for solar renewable energy credits (SRECs), which a provider can explain in terms of your system.
- Massachusetts: Massachusetts electricity rates are among the highest in the continental US, and the state has run its own solar incentive programs.
- Missouri: Missouri requires its investor-owned utilities to offer net metering for small home systems.
- New Jersey: New Jersey has long had state solar incentive programs built around renewable energy certificates, along with net metering.
- North Carolina: Duke Energy serves most of North Carolina, and its residential solar rules for new customers moved to time-of-use based net metering in recent years, which rewards thinking about when your home uses power.
- Ohio: Ohio households can shop for an electricity supplier, but net metering and interconnection still run through the local utility that owns the wires.
- Rhode Island: Rhode Island has net metering and has run state renewable energy programs, and its electricity rates are among the higher ones in the country.
- South Carolina: South Carolina's major utilities offer solar rate options for customers who add panels, and how exported power is credited depends on which utility serves your home.
- Tennessee: Most Tennessee homes get power from TVA through a local power company, and buyback rules there differ from states with traditional net metering.
- Virginia: Virginia offers net metering for home systems through its investor-owned utilities and co-ops, and the rules have been updated in recent years.
See if solar makes sense for your house.
One free call. Tell a provider about your roof and your bills, and decide from there.
Who this is for
Check all five before you call:
- You own the home (not renting)
- It's a single-family house or townhouse
- The roof gets full sun or only light shade
- Your power bill is over $100 a month
- The home doesn't already have solar panels
Renting, in a condo, apartment or mobile home, under heavy shade, or already have panels? This line can't help with those, so please don't call.
Questions
Does net metering mean my bill goes to zero?
Rarely. Fixed charges stay, and most homes still buy some power at night or in winter.
Can the rules change after I install?
They can. Some changes let existing customers keep their current terms for a period and some don't, so ask what applies to your utility.
Do I need a new meter?
Usually the utility installs or reprograms a meter that records power in both directions as part of the interconnection.
Are you a solar company?
No. Home Solar Line is a free phone line that connects homeowners with independent solar providers. We don't sell, design or install systems, and we don't set prices.
Does the call cost anything?
No. The call is free, and there's no obligation to buy anything from the provider you talk to.
Who qualifies?
Homeowners in a single-family house or townhouse with a roof that gets full or mostly full sun, a power bill over $100 a month, and no solar panels already. If that's not you, the provider won't be able to help.
How do I check the provider?
Ask for their contractor license (if your state requires one) and proof of insurance before signing anything. It's on you as the homeowner to check.