Guide
What your utility actually pays for the solar you export
Export credit can be worth a third of a system's lifetime value, and it is set by 51 separate commissions. How to find your own answer in ten minutes.
Updated September 18, 20262 min readAwaiting expert review
Written from primary sources by our editorial team. A credentialed reviewer hasn't signed off yet, so this page isn't in search results. It's information, not professional advice.
Not sure where to start? Take the Solar Check.About 2 minutes. Rough answers are fine.What your utility pays for power your panels send back to the grid can be worth as much as a third of a system's lifetime value. It is also the number most likely to be wrong in a sales pitch, because it is set by 51 separate commissions on their own schedules.
The two regimes
Under traditional net metering, every kilowatt-hour you export earns a credit equal to the retail price you pay for one — the meter effectively runs backwards. Under net billing, exports earn a lower wholesale or avoided-cost rate. Same panels, same roof, potentially half the economic value.
The Department of Energy's homeowner guide explains the mechanism in plain terms.
Why we have not published a table
Because we have not read all 51 commissions' current orders, and an unverified tariff would be worse than a blank — you would act on it. Our rule across this site is real data or nothing. When we verify a state, its row will carry the citation and the date.
How to find yours, in about ten minutes
Look your state up on DSIRE, which indexes current policy and links the underlying order. Then ask your own utility, in writing, three questions:
- What tariff would a new residential solar customer interconnecting today be placed on?
- What are exports credited at under that tariff?
- For how many years is that locked in?
Keep the answer. It is yours, it is free, and it is the input an installer's payback model rests on. The EIA also publishes net metering and distributed generation data if you want the national picture.
Bottom line
Get the export rate in writing from your own utility before you believe any payback figure — including ours. Then run the numbers in are solar panels worth it now against the price in what solar costs to install.
Common questions
What is net metering?
Traditional net metering credits every kilowatt-hour you export at the same retail price you pay for one. Net billing, which several states have moved to, credits exports at a lower wholesale or avoided-cost rate.
Why does it matter so much?
A rooftop system exports a large share of what it makes, because it generates most at midday when the house uses least. Whether that power is worth retail or a third of retail changes the payback substantially.
What is grandfathering?
When a state changes its rules, customers already interconnected are often kept on the old terms for a set number of years. So the question is what applies to you from your interconnection date.
Should I trust my installer's summary?
Check it yourself. It is the number with the biggest effect on their payback model and the one most likely to be out of date.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Energy: Homeowner's guide to going solar
- DSIRE: Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency
- U.S. Energy Information Administration: net metering and distributed generation data
- U.S. Energy Information Administration: average retail price of electricity by state
- NREL: Solar market research and analysis
By SolarRealCost Editorial Team. First published September 18, 2026. Advertiser disclosure
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