What happens when the grid goes down
A grid-tied system without storage disconnects during an outage. People reasonably assume that panels plus daylight equals electricity, and it is far better to learn otherwise now than during a storm.
If keeping part of the house running matters, ask any installer to be specific rather than general. Which circuits stay live, for how long at a realistic load, and does the battery recharge from the array while the grid is down. Those differences compound over a multi-day event.
Be concrete about the load you want to carry. A system keeping a fridge, some lighting, heating controls and a few outlets going for days is a very different proposition from one attempting to run air conditioning, and that conversation belongs before the contract.
Ask how a battery sized for outage cover compares with one sized for everyday bill savings. They are frequently not the same system, and knowing which you are being quoted is essential before comparing prices between installers.
What storage does and does not do to the arithmetic
Be aware that Maryland is a state where the bill-savings case for storage is weaker than in many others, because net metering credits exported solar at the retail electricity rate. When exports are already worth retail, a battery is not converting a low-value export into a high-value one the way it does under a below-retail export regime.
That does not make storage a bad purchase here, it makes it mostly a resilience purchase, and it should be presented to you that way. Be sceptical of a quote that claims large bill savings from a battery in a full retail net metering state without showing the arithmetic.
Ask what maintenance a battery needs, what its expected life is, and what the warranty covers and for how long. A battery is a shorter-lived component than the panels and that belongs in the comparison.
Ask for the battery to be costed on its own: what it adds to the price, what it saves on the bill if anything, and what it delivers during an outage. Three separate answers, and a single combined figure has hidden two of them.
The rest of the Maryland stack
Maryland credits exported solar at the retail electricity rate under a framework set by statute and administered by the Public Service Commission. Credits accumulate through the year and there is an annual reconciliation, so ask your utility what happens to a remaining surplus.
Separately, 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. Your system must be registered with the Maryland Public Service Commission and enrolled in GATS within 30 days of registering to earn them.
SREC prices move with the market, so treat any SREC income in a projection as a forecast. Ask what price the model assumes and ask to see the figures with SREC income removed.
And the Maryland Energy Administration pays $1,000 for a qualifying system, provided the installation was completed by a NABCEP certified installer and the application reaches the MEA within 12 months of installation.
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.