VT · Solar

Solar quotes in South Burlington, VT.

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

One vetted local installer · no lead list

What you get

One vetted local South Burlington 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): 11 yrs
Average payback: 40+
Local installers

Why solar in South Burlington

Most states never ask a solar homeowner what should happen to the Renewable Energy Credits their system produces. Vermont asks, and prices the answer. Keep the RECs and the adjustor is minus 3 cents per kWh as of 2026. Transfer them to the utility and you avoid that reduction. On a typical system that is a few hundred dollars a year, in exchange for being able to say the environmental attributes of your generation are genuinely yours.

What a Renewable Energy Credit actually is

A Renewable Energy Credit represents the environmental attribute of a megawatt hour of renewable generation, separate from the electricity itself. The two can be sold to different parties.

If you transfer your RECs to the utility, the electricity still powers your home and still offsets your bill, but the claim that your household runs on renewable energy transfers with the credits.

If you keep them, you retain that claim, and the utility does not count your generation toward its own renewable obligations.

Most states do not put this choice to residential customers at all, either taking the credits by default or leaving the question unaddressed. Vermont makes it explicit and attaches a number to it.

What the choice costs

If you retain your RECs, the REC adjustor is minus 3 cents per kWh as of 2026. That reduction applies to your net metering compensation.

On a system generating, say, 8,000 kilowatt hours a year, three cents per kilowatt hour is around $240 a year. Across a twenty-five year life that is a substantial figure.

So the question is whether the ability to accurately claim your own renewable generation is worth roughly that much to you annually. For some households it clearly is; for others it clearly is not.

What matters is that you decide rather than discover. Ask which REC treatment your paperwork specifies and confirm it matches what you intended.

Framing the decision honestly

If you transfer your RECs, it is not accurate to say your home is powered by renewable energy you generated, because that attribute now belongs to someone else. Some homeowners are surprised by this.

If you keep them, you are paying three cents per kilowatt hour for a claim rather than for electricity. That is a legitimate purchase, and it should be recognised as one.

Either way the panels produce the same power and your bill falls by the same amount before the adjustor. The adjustor is the only financial difference.

Ask your installer to model both, so the annual and lifetime difference is a number rather than an impression, and then make the choice on that basis.

What belongs in a Vermont projection

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 receives no federal tax credit.

Section 48E survives at 30 percent for third-party owners under leases and power purchase agreements, so ask what a provider claims and what reaches you in the rate.

What exists is compensation built from your utility blended residential rate, modified by the REC adjustor at minus 3 cents per kWh if you keep your credits, and by the siting adjustor.

Ask for the projection modelled both ways on the REC question, so the choice is made with the numbers in front of you.

Incentives & rebates

Net metering: Rule 5.100: blended residential rate plus REC and siting adjustors

Vermont net metering under Public Utility Commission Rule 5.100 is more explicitly constructed than most, which is useful because it means every component can be questioned separately. Compensation begins from a blended residential rate, calculated by each utility and reviewed through a biennial process. In the 2026 biennial update the Department provided worksheets recommending a statewide blended residential rate of $0.2071 per kWh, an increase of $0.0231 per kWh, and the Commission directed electric distribution utilities to file tariffs no later than June 15, 2026 to take effect on August 1, 2026. Two adjustors then modify that base. The siting adjustor reflects where and how the system is sited. The REC adjustor reflects what happens to the Renewable Energy Credits your system generates: if you keep them, the adjustor is minus 3 cents per kWh as of 2026, and if you transfer them to the utility you avoid that reduction. That is a genuine decision with a price on it, and it is one most states never put to a homeowner at all. Keeping your RECs means you can accurately say your household runs on renewable energy you generated; transferring them means three cents more per kilowatt hour. The Commission has steadily reduced the adjustor values over successive biennial reviews, so the terms a system receives depend on when it enrols, and a long projection should state what it assumes about that. Vermont is served by Green Mountain Power alongside municipal utilities and cooperatives, each filing its own tariff, so confirm the figures that apply at your address.

Related Vermont resources

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

How payback works in Vermont

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

What happens to my RECs in Vermont?

You choose. Keep them and the REC adjustor is minus 3 cents per kWh as of 2026, reducing your compensation. Transfer them to the utility and you avoid that reduction, but the claim that your home runs on renewable energy transfers with them.

What is that choice worth?

On a system generating around 8,000 kilowatt hours a year, three cents per kilowatt hour is roughly $240 a year, and considerably more across a twenty-five year life. Ask for the projection modelled both ways.

If I transfer my RECs, is my home still solar powered?

The panels still produce the power and your bill still falls. But the environmental attribute belongs to the utility, so it is not accurate to claim your household runs on renewable energy you generated. Some homeowners are surprised by that.

How do I make sure I get the treatment I want?

Ask which REC treatment your paperwork specifies and confirm it matches what you intended, rather than letting it be settled by default. Ask to see the line.