Net metering guide
How Net Metering Turns Extra Solar Power Into Bill Credits
When your panels make more power than the house is using, the extra goes back out to the grid and the utility credits your bill for it. Here is how that works, and the paperwork we take care of before the first credit shows up.
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Bill credits, in plain words
What net metering is
Net metering credits your electric bill for the extra power your solar system sends back to the grid.
Neighbors call it "selling power back" or "running the meter backward." A "grid-tied solar" system stays hooked up to the utility, and the house always uses the panels' output first; only the part it cannot use at that moment heads out through the meter.
That is why the power your array makes at midday still counts after dark: the surplus you sent out comes back off the bill when the house draws from the grid later.
Words you will hear
These are the terms that come up when we talk solar and the grid.
- Net metering
- Bill credits for the surplus power a system exports to the grid.
- Grid-tied solar
- On-grid solar, connected to the utility and sized around your power bill.
- Interconnection
- The application filed with the utility once the inspection passes.
- Permission to operate
- The utility's sign-off, often called PTO, that lets a finished system run.
From the roof to the bill
How bill credits offset night-time use
The surplus your panels make during the day earns bill credits, and those credits offset the power the house draws at night and on cloudy days.
A day on a net-metered house runs in four steps.
The panels outpace the house
On a bright day the array can make more power than the lights, the fridge and the furnace fan are using.
The surplus goes to the grid
The extra flows out through your meter onto the utility's lines instead of going to waste.
The utility credits your bill
The power you exported is counted and credited to your account with the utility.
Credits cover the dark hours
After sundown, while the panels rest, the home pulls power from the utility and the banked amount comes off what you owe.
Before the first credit
Inspection, interconnection and permission to operate
Once the inspection passes, we file the utility interconnection application and arrange the meter exchange, so the system has permission to operate before it earns a credit.
That paperwork is ours to file, not yours. The "interconnection" application is the formal request to hook a new system up to the grid, and "permission to operate" is the utility's sign-off that lets it run. Until that sign-off comes through, a finished array sits ready on the roof without running.
Planning a system, or waiting on one? Call and we will walk you through where the paperwork stands and what comes next.
(413) 724-0582These are the steps between a finished install and a running system.
Inspection
The inspector checks the finished work and signs the permit off.
Interconnection application
This is the utility approval step, the one that lets the meter exchange go ahead.
Meter exchange
We arrange the meter exchange, so the meter can count the power the house sends out as well as what it uses.
Permission to operate
The utility signs off, the system switches on, and the first surplus starts earning credits.
Your utility, your terms
Why credit terms vary by utility
Net metering terms can vary by utility and by program, so what a system's credits are worth depends on where it connects to the grid.
In Massachusetts, the state's Mass.gov net metering guide explains how electric company customers offset their energy use with a bill credit for the power they send back. Your utility and the program your system falls under set the details you see on the bill.
That is why we start every estimate with your own power bill, not a rule of thumb.
Ask what credits would look like on your bill
Have a recent electric bill handy when you call. We will go through it with you and explain how net metering would apply to a system on your roof.
- Free, no-obligation estimates.
- We quote the whole job before we start, with no surprise charges after.
After the switch-on
Batteries, time-of-use rates and monitoring
A battery can store your surplus for the peak hours of a "time-of-use" rate, and monitoring shows how much your system makes and sends to the grid.
Net metering banks your surplus with the utility. A battery keeps some of it at home instead, which also gives the house backup power when the grid goes down.
A battery for peak rates
Power priced by the hour costs most at the peak. A battery can shift your use away from those costly hours to lower the charges, and it carries the house through an outage.
Solar Battery InstallationMonitoring in an app
Once the system is commissioned, you watch its production in an app, so you can see what it makes and what it sends out, and you book its annual maintenance.
In their own words
What neighbors say about working with us
Our Google reviews from owners around Pittsfield, as they wrote them.
The representatives we worked with at Incite - Jonathan and Daniella were incredible and kept us informed every step of the way. The electrical team and installation team were wonderful and efficient and did an amazing job under brutally hot conditions! We are thrilled that we decided on Incite Solar Solutions and know that going forward it will be the best decision we ever made. We are fortunate that all of our panels are in the back and we actually forget they are there. Great installation.
We're in line to get a system thru SunPower with Derek as our rep. So far so good--he's been great! We had a hiccup with our first home site inspection--seems that the info never made it back to Incite. Then Peter Walters was assigned to come out--night and day difference from our first home site visit. Peter totally knew what he was doing. Hope all continues to go well!
We had Pete survey our property and he did an amazing job, took his time explaning to us everything he was doing and in what condition our home was in. He did a pretty awesome job!
Thinking about solar?
Find out what net metering could do for your bill
Call with your address and a recent electric bill, and we will set up a free, no-obligation estimate at a time that suits you.
We file the utility paperwork for you.
We show up when we say we will.