Full retail crediting, set by statute
Maryland credits exported solar at the retail electricity rate. Because the framework is set by statute and administered by the Public Service Commission, it is broadly the same whether you are served by BGE, Pepco, Delmarva Power or Potomac Edison.
That consistency reaches further than most states, and it is the reason Maryland advice travels well. The statute is written around eligible customer-generators rather than around one class of utility, so customers of an electric cooperative such as SMECO or Choptank are inside the same framework rather than outside it, which is not true in Florida or Georgia.
It is not unlimited, though. The statute frames net metering as available until the rated generating capacity owned and operated by eligible customer-generators in the State reaches 3,000 megawatts, so it is a programme with a stated ceiling rather than a permanent entitlement. A generating system is separately capped, and may not exceed 2 megawatts for a standard installation.
Full retail crediting also means an exported kilowatt hour and one you consume as it is generated are worth much the same within the year. That removes most of the load-shifting pressure that dominates advice in states with below-retail export rates.
What it does not remove is the annual reconciliation, and that is where sizing decisions actually get made.
What happens to a surplus at reconciliation
Credits accumulate through the year and there is an annual reconciliation, and the statute answers what happens rather than leaving it to your utility. Under Public Utilities section 7-306 the electric company shall pay the eligible customer-generator for the dollar value of any accrued net excess generation remaining at the end of the previous 12-month period.
The rate it is paid at is the part that matters. The statute sets it at the generation or commodity portion of the rate that the customer-generator would have been charged, which is a fraction of the retail rate, because retail also covers distribution, transmission and the fixed charges.
So the asymmetry is real and it is settled in law: within the year a credit offsets a purchase at full retail, but a surplus left at the end of the twelve month period converts to cash at the commodity rate only. Producing well beyond what you use over a year is giving value away once a year, every year.
That makes annual consumption the sensible sizing ceiling. Ask your installer what percentage of your annual usage the proposed system covers, ask how the reconciliation was treated in the projection, and ask for the design to be built from your last twelve months of bills rather than a generic household profile.
And the second income stream that stacks on top
Separately from net metering, one megawatt-hour of production generates one SREC, so a system producing 12,000 kilowatt-hours over a typical year generates about 12 a year. They are earned on generation regardless of whether you consumed the electricity or exported it.
That is a meaningful difference from net metering. Where the reconciliation question makes oversizing risky, SREC income does not care where the electricity went, which partly offsets it. Ask your installer to show both streams separately across a year so you can see how each responds to size.
To earn them, your system must be registered with the Maryland Public Service Commission, and within 30 days of registering you need to go to PJM Interconnection's Generator Attribute Tracking System for next steps. Ask your installer in writing whether they handle that.
SREC prices move with the market, so treat any SREC income in a projection as a forecast. Ask what price the model assumes, where it came from, and to see the figures with SREC income removed entirely.
The rebate to claim, and the exemptions that need no application
The Maryland Energy Administration Residential Clean Energy Rebate Program pays $1,000 for a qualifying residential solar system. The condition to settle before you choose an installer is that the installation must be completed by an installer certified by the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners, because nothing recovers the rebate afterwards if it was not.
The system must also be at your primary residential property and at least 1 kilowatt, and the application must reach the MEA within 12 months of installation. It is first come, first served, so confirm the current funding status rather than treating $1,000 as an entitlement.
Under Maryland Tax-Property Article Section 7-242, residential solar energy property is not subject to real property tax and solar energy equipment is exempt from the state sales and use tax. Neither arrives as a payment, so check your quote reflects the sales tax exemption and add the property tax treatment to your own arithmetic.
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 credit. Section 48E survives at 30 percent for third-party owners under leases and power purchase agreements, so ask any such provider what they claim and what of that value reaches you, and confirm with a tax advisor.