ME · Solar

Solar quotes in Auburn, ME.

One real quote from a vetted local Auburn installer, sized to your roof, your bill, and every federal + state rebate you qualify for.

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What you get

One vetted local Auburn installer
Rebates checked for your exact address
No call-center spam, no lead list

7 kW
Average system size: $3.10/W
Average cost (USD): 9 yrs
Average payback: 70+
Local installers

Why solar in Auburn

It is worth being direct about the Maine incentive picture, because it is thinner than most homeowners expect and thicker in the one place that matters. There is no state solar tax credit and no state solar rebate. Efficiency Maine incentives go to heat pumps, not panels. The federal residential credit ended after 2025. What Maine has instead is the best net metering arrangement left in the country applied to some of the most expensive electricity in it.

What Maine does not have

There is no Maine state income tax credit for residential solar. Guides describing a stack of federal plus state credits are describing other states.

There is no state solar rebate either. Efficiency Maine is the organisation homeowners most often associate with energy incentives here, and its rebates target heat pumps and other efficiency measures rather than solar panels.

The 30 percent federal Residential Clean Energy Credit under Section 25D expired for property placed in service after December 31, 2025, so a cash or loan purchase now receives no federal tax credit either.

Section 48E, the commercial credit, survives at 30 percent for third-party owners under leases and power purchase agreements, and is the only remaining route by which a 30 percent federal credit touches an Auburn rooftop.

What it does have, and why it matters more

One-to-one Net Energy Billing at the retail rate. Most states have moved away from this; Maine has kept it for residential rooftop, and LD 1777 changed community solar without touching it.

Applied to a residential average around 30.4 cents per kWh against a national figure near 18.4, that credit is worth substantially more per kilowatt hour than the same arrangement would be almost anywhere else.

A full property tax exemption under 36 M.R.S. Section 655 covering panels, racking, inverters, wiring and batteries storing solar electricity, subject to an application to your assessor by April 1.

And an Efficiency Maine Small Battery Incentive Program that pays battery owners for participating in demand response events on the New England grid, typically 40 to 60 times between June 1 and September 30.

Where the diligence should go now

With the incentive column short, the return comes from production times rate. Both are assumptions in a model rather than published facts, so that is where to spend your attention.

Ask for the production estimate in kilowatt hours per year, with the data source named, location-specific irradiance for your address, a stated snow allowance and a shading analysis that accounts for tree growth.

Ask which retail rate the model used, whether it matches a recent bill, whether it is all-in or supply only, and whether fixed monthly charges are included.

Ask what escalation the projection assumed and to see it at zero. In a state where avoided cost is nearly the whole case, the escalator can quietly carry more of the headline than it should.

Costing it out under the current tariff

Strike the federal residential credit from any quote showing it, and do not expect a state credit or rebate to appear in its place, because neither exists in Maine.

Rebuild from one-to-one Net Energy Billing at your actual retail rate, subject to the rolling 12-month credit elimination under Chapter 313.

Add the property tax exemption under 36 M.R.S. Section 655, remembering the April 1 application to your municipal assessor, and the Efficiency Maine Small Battery Incentive if storage is in the design.

Then add the electricity you stop buying, from a production estimate you have interrogated. Ask for that version in writing with each line named.

Incentives & rebates

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.

Related Maine resources

Maine solar incentives & rebates Full breakdown of federal, provincial, and utility programs.

How payback works in Maine

System cost: $21,700
Estimated net cost: $21,700
Estimated payback: ~13.4 years
25-year net savings: ~$18,800

These figures are illustrative; your actual quote reflects your roof, sun exposure, and local utility rates.

Frequently asked questions

Does Maine have a state solar tax credit?

No, and it has no state solar rebate either. Efficiency Maine rebates target heat pumps and other efficiency measures rather than solar panels. The federal residential credit also ended for property placed in service after December 31, 2025.

So what makes Maine a good solar state?

One-to-one Net Energy Billing at the retail rate, which most states have moved away from, applied to a residential average around 30.4 cents per kWh against a national figure near 18.4. The credit is worth more here than the same arrangement would be elsewhere.

Is there anything for batteries?

Efficiency Maine runs a Small Battery Incentive Program that pays battery owners for participating in demand response events on the New England grid, typically 40 to 60 times between June 1 and September 30. Batteries storing solar electricity are also inside the property tax exemption.

Where should I focus my diligence?

On the production estimate and the rate assumption, since together they are nearly the whole case. Ask for production in kilowatt hours with a stated snow allowance, and confirm the rate against a recent bill including fixed charges.