Solar net metering, explained at three levels of complexity

🟢 Level 1: Just tell me what it is.

Your solar panels make electricity. Often, they produce more than your home needs—especially on a sunny day. “Net metering” lets you send that extra energy to the grid and earn credit for it on your utility bill.

It’s what makes residential solar worth doing. Think of it like rolling your electric meter backward when your solar carport is pumping out more than you use—and forward again when you're drawing power after dark, or on a cloudy day. 

It’s not quite free money, but it’s close. It slashes your electric bill and speeds up your return on investment.

🟡 Level 2: Okay, but how does that actually work?

Let’s break it down: when your solar power system is running, it’s generating electricity measured in kilowatt-hours (kWh). That’s what your utility charges you for. The more sunlight you convert, the fewer kWh you need to buy.

But here’s where it gets useful: when you generate more than you use, that extra electricity doesn’t go to waste. It flows into the grid through your bidirectional meter, and your utility gives you a credit—sometimes at the same rate they charge you, sometimes a bit less. That’s net metering.

Later, at night or on a rainy day, you draw power from the grid. Instead of paying for it, you burn through those credits you earned during the sunny times.

Over the course of a year, most homeowners with a well-sized system can come close to zeroing out their bill—not because they’re off-grid, but because their net usage is zero.

💡Quick Sidebar: What's the difference between kW and kWh?

Glad you asked.

• kW (kilowatts) = how much power your system can produce at once — depends mostly on the size of your panels.
• kWh (kilowatt-hours) = how much energy your system actually produces over time.

Or think of it like this:

• kW is the size of your biceps
• kWh is how many reps you did at the gym today

Imagine your system is 10 kW. Each hour, your 10-kW array will produce 10 kilowatt-hours (yes, the math is that simple…just multiply the power by the # of hours!) in full sun. 

Fun fact: the exact same array placed in different climates will produce different numbers of kWh.

🔴 Level 3: Hit me with the nitty-gritty!

Net metering is a billing agreement, not a special device. The grid doesn’t know whether electrons came from your Kingdom Sunport or a coal plant—they just flow where they’re needed. What net metering does is track your inputs and outputs, and settles the score on your bill.

In most states, if you send out 800 kWh and later use 800 kWh, your bill is effectively $0. That's 1:1 retail credit, and it's the gold standard for solar economics.

But some states are changing the rules. Some states now pay less for exported energy and charge more when you pull from the grid—called net billing or time-of-use rates. This makes solar batteries more appealing, since you can store your own energy instead of selling it cheap and buying it back high…but that’s for another blog post.

In much of New England, retail-rate net metering is still alive and well, which means solar still pays off quickly—especially if you size your system to match your real usage.

Want to go big? Just know that if you overproduce for the whole year, most utilities only pay you a wholesale rate for the extra at year-end. So unless you’re planning for future demand (like adding a heat pump or EV), it’s best to aim for a system that covers your current needs.

Bottom line:

Net metering is what makes grid-tied solar work. It’s the reason your solar carport doesn’t just look good—it saves you money. Whether it’s a post-and-beam Sunport or a rooftop array, your panels are constantly generating energy and sending it where it’s needed. Net metering makes sure you get paid for that.

Not sure what your utility offers? We’ll look it up and explain it in plain English—no jargon, no pressure.

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