What your exported power is actually worth in Connecticut, how the credit is calculated, and what that means for sizing a system.
Under Netting, you consume what your roof produces and export the surplus for credit — the familiar model.
Under Buy-All, every kilowatt-hour you generate goes to the grid at a fixed contracted rate, and you continue buying all of your household power at retail. You know exactly what you will earn for twenty years.
Buy-All gives certainty. Netting gives you the retail rate, which will almost certainly be higher in year fifteen than today — but you carry the uncertainty.
A Solar Energy Adjustment applies to new 2026 interconnections. Work the math both ways before you sign; twenty years is a long time to be in the wrong structure.
Sources: Connecticut PURA Residential Renewable Energy Solutions tariff.
Net metering is a billing arrangement, not a rebate. Nobody sends you a cheque. Your meter runs backward and your bill goes down.
It also does not eliminate your bill entirely. Fixed customer charges continue regardless of usage, and most utilities true up on an annual cycle rather than paying cash for a surplus.
Which is why system sizing matters: a system built well beyond your annual usage produces credits worth far less than the ones that offset what you actually consume.
The 30% federal Residential Clean Energy Credit under Section 25D ended for systems purchased after December 31, 2025. If you buy with cash or a loan in 2026, you cannot claim it. Any site still advertising a 30% federal credit for a homeowner purchase is running outdated information.
What remains is Section 48E, the commercial investment credit. It applies to third-party-owned systems — leases and power purchase agreements — where the system owner claims it rather than the homeowner. That is precisely what makes $0-down possible.
EnergyPros does not provide tax advice — confirm your situation with a tax professional.
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Not usually. Fixed customer charges continue regardless of how much power you generate, and most utilities settle any annual surplus at a rate well below retail. A well-sized system substantially reduces the bill; it rarely eliminates it.
In most cases, one sized to your actual annual usage. Building well beyond that produces credits that are worth far less than the ones offsetting what you consume, because surplus is typically trued up at avoided cost rather than retail.
Net metering credits generally stay with the meter rather than the person. If you sell, the arrangement transfers with the property. If you are on a lease or PPA, that agreement transfers to the buyer — your installer handles the paperwork.
It can, considerably — especially where exports are credited below retail. A battery lets you use your own production during expensive hours instead of exporting it cheaply. In states with 1:1 retail credit the case is weaker; in net billing states it is usually decisive.
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