Grid and off-grid, 65 tools
How does your utility pay you for solar?
Net metering rules change your solar payback by years depending on where you live. Find your state or province, compare export credit structures, and check what staying on or off the grid actually costs.
Start here
The tool most people run first
By location
Net metering calculators, United States
By location
Net metering calculators, Canada
Policy comparisons
Understand how your credit rate is set
Connection and equipment
What it costs to connect, and what backs you up
How grid solar pays you back
Your export credit is set by your utility, not by a national rule
There is no single net metering rate for the United States or Canada. Your utility or province writes the tariff, and the DSIRE database tracks each one, so check your state listing before you assume a rate applies to you.
Size the system to your daytime use
Exports usually earn less than the power you use yourself, so a system matched to your daytime load often pays back faster than a bigger one. The solar panel calculator turns your monthly usage into a panel count you can take to an installer.
The federal credit changes the payback math
A tax credit lowers the upfront cost, which shortens payback even where export rates are low. The federal ITC calculator applies the credit to your system cost so you can see the difference in dollars.
Read the homeowner's guide before you sign
Before you sign a contract, it helps to know how the equipment, the meter, and the bill fit together. The Department of Energy's homeowner's guide to going solar walks through those pieces in plain language.
Questions
Frequently asked
Net metering credits your solar exports at the full retail rate you pay for electricity. Net billing credits exports at a lower, avoided-cost rate instead. The net billing vs net metering comparison tool shows the dollar difference for your own numbers.
It depends entirely on your state and sometimes your specific utility. Pick your state from the list above to see its current policy type, typical export credit rate, and a worked savings example.
For most homes, staying grid-tied is cheaper since it avoids the cost of oversizing a battery bank for the worst week of the year. The grid tie vs off grid comparison tool weighs both against your own usage and budget.
Interconnection costs typically run from a few hundred dollars for a simple residential application to several thousand for a system needing a utility upgrade study. The grid interconnection cost estimator breaks down application fees, equipment, and study costs.