Solar Panel Cost in Maine (2026)

Net metering: Net Energy Billing, one-to-one retail credit, rolling 12-month reset

Maine Net Energy Billing under Public Utilities Commission Chapter 313 credits residential rooftop generation against household usage at the retail rate, one for one. Against a Maine residential average around 30.4 cents per kWh, roughly two-thirds above the national figure, that makes each exported kilowatt hour unusually valuable and it is the main reason Maine solar works despite a northern climate and a high installed cost. The constraint to design around is the reset. Customers accumulate unused kilowatt hour credits and apply them against usage over a rolling 12-month period, and at the end of each rolling 12-month period any accumulated unused credit is eliminated and may not be applied against future usage. Nothing is paid for eliminated credit. A rolling window behaves differently from a fixed annual true-up date: rather than one settlement day in the calendar, credit generated in a given month has twelve months to be used before it lapses. In practice that suits Maine reasonably well, since a summer surplus is drawn down through a long heating season within the window. But it still means a system generating more than the household consumes across a year gives the difference away, so the design should start from your last twelve months of bills rather than from available roof area. Central Maine Power and Versant Power serve different parts of the state at different retail rates, so confirm which one bills you before accepting any figure in a quote.