The utility and the programme are not the same thing
The major electric distribution companies in New Jersey are Public Service Electric and Gas, Jersey Central Power and Light, and Atlantic City Electric. Yours is the one whose name is on your bill and whose crews restore power after an outage.
The electric distribution company installs the net energy meter, a bi-directional meter that replaces your existing meter and measures the difference between the electricity supplied to you and the excess your system sends back during a billing period. It also handles interconnection approval.
The state incentive programme is separate. It registers your system, sets the incentive rate, and pays on generation over a fifteen-year term. It does not own your meter and it cannot approve your interconnection.
So when a project stalls, the first useful question is which of the two it is waiting on. Ask your installer that specifically, rather than accepting a general assurance that things are progressing, and ask for the reference numbers for both processes so you can follow up yourself if you need to.
And a third piece of hardware you should confirm
New Jersey's Clean Energy Program states that the metering required to achieve netting and crediting is not capable of measuring gross generation for the purposes of REC or SREC creation, and that reliance upon one meter to receive value for both revenue streams would leave the customer-generator short changed on RECs or SRECs.
So alongside the utility's bi-directional net meter there is a separate Solar Production Meter measuring everything your array generates. One number drives your bill credit, the other drives your incentive payments.
Confirm in writing that a production meter is included, who supplies and installs it, and how its readings reach the programme. Then ask how you can verify it is still reporting months later, because a meter that quietly stops costs you money without any obvious signal.
Keep the documentation for all of it: interconnection approval, registration confirmation, meter details. That file is what you need when something has to be corrected, and it is what a buyer of the house will want to see.
Permits, inspection, and the certification you will need later
Local permitting and inspection sit alongside both processes. Agree in writing with your installer who files the permit, who schedules inspection, and what the expected date of permission to operate is rather than the installation date. Only the second earns you anything.
One reason to care about the inspection paperwork beyond getting the system running is that you will need it again. The property tax exemption under N.J.S.A. 54:4-3.113a to g requires the renewable energy system to be certified by the local construction code official, and Form CRES to be filed with your municipal tax assessor.
So the building permit and inspection certificate are not just hurdles to clear, they are documents you will be asked for. Collect and keep them while the project is fresh rather than reconstructing them a year later.
Ask your assessor what they specifically require, since requirements vary between municipalities. A short call at the start of the project is worth more than any general guidance about what is usually needed.
Two exemptions, and neither one happens by itself
New Jersey exempts solar energy equipment from state sales tax, but the exemption has a procedure and it happens at purchase. Under N.J.A.C. 18:24-26.4 the purchaser must issue to the seller an Exempt Use Certificate, Form ST-4, or other approved form, indicating on its face that the purchase qualifies for exemption as a solar energy system, with the installation property address inserted.
Ask your installer how that is handled and confirm the certificate was issued rather than assuming the price you were quoted already reflects it. It goes to the seller as part of the transaction, not to the state on a return later.
The property tax exemption is separate. Qualifying renewable energy systems are exempt from real property taxation under N.J.S.A. 54:4-3.113a to g, but Form CRES, the Certification of Renewable Energy System, must be filed with your local municipal tax assessor, and the system must be certified by the local construction code official.
The annual exemption is the difference between the total assessed value of the property before and after the system has been installed. Nobody files Form CRES for you by default, so ask whether your installer assists and put it on your own list either way. Requirements vary between municipalities, so a short call to your own assessor asking what they need is worth more than any general guidance.