Solar powered homes with net-metering 

The thought of net-metering is quite simplistic. The energy you create once you go through with your solar panel installation, minus the power you use, matches a net expense of electricity. Most of us are joined to a grid, so we don’t require batteries to store that excess energy.

it is just crammed into the grid and your neighbors use that electricity. Then at night, when the solar panels are quiescent, you use electricity and it’s supplied back to your home from the grid. The way to regulate how much you produce, how much you use, and how much you give to the grid is with a meter that runs both backward and forward. The measuring method of that meter is termed net metering. It’s simple in theory, but there is some more to it.

Net-metering in conjunction with solar panel installation

 
A majority of solar installation companies will also come out and install the special meters themselves free of charge. If you are going to supply solar panel energy back into the grid, the people who manage the grid will want to make sure everything is installed right. Net metering negotiations are mandated at a state level in 43 out of the 50 states and in Washington DC, but even in states where they don’t mandate net-metering contracts, most utilities still have their own programs.
 

States have different net-metering programs for solar panel installations

Every approved solar panel installation company walks the homeowner through this process and any costs linked.  As the net meter works, it measures both the kilowatt hours delivered to the home, as well as the kilowatt hours overproduced and served back to the grid.

Most utilities install the meter themselves, or they have authorized contractors to do the installation. In some cases, the utility uses the solar company’s licensed electrician to upgrade the meter. 

Help the grid with extra energy produced by solar electricity homes

This is where the net metering comes into play. It is important to note that net metering is not available in every state, but it is accessible in 38 of the 50 states. During the day you might produce more power than you use, and then at night when the solar panels are dormant, you receive those power credits back as you use electricity from the grid. At the end of the month, if you produce more power than you use, the leftover power will carry over to the next month as a credit.

At the end of each year, there is what is known as a yearly true-up. This means if you have leftover energy credits at the end of the year the utility can do one of three things, depending on the net metering rules in each state. They can pay you out for them at the full retail rate (it’s rare, but it does happen). They can pay you out for them at an avoided cost rate of 3 to 4 cents per kWh (this is the case with California, Massachusetts, Utah, New York, New Jersey and most of the other leading solar states) Basically, an avoided cost rate is a wholesale rate the utility would pay a normal fossil fuel burning power station for power. They can eliminate the leftover credits with no benefit to you. This is less common but you should know if your utility does this.

If you want to move into the future and join the solar revolution, or if you want to find out what solar panels are right for you, go to HahaSmart.com and try our price checker tool. You can see how much a system will cost, and how much you can save over the next 20 years.

For more information relating to going solar, don't forget to visit our solar blog section for more handy guides and articles.