Enter your ZIP code to see the rules in your market, then read every quote line by line.
Or go straight to a market
It finds your market, and each market has its own rules.
Net metering, connection steps and how to look up an installer, each with its source and the date we checked it.
Use the checklist and the blank table in our guide, then ask each installer to fill any gap in writing.
Solar is a big decision, so the first steps are reading, not signing.
Pennsylvania and New Jersey each have their own rules for the power you send back to the grid.
The utility that supplies your power credits your system's output at the full retail rate, up to your use in the billing period, and carries extra kilowatt-hours forward.
Source: 52 Pa. Code 75.13(d), Pennsylvania Code and Bulletin (code current through 8 Aug 2026); Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, Electric Companies and Suppliers (undated). Checked 9 Oct 2026.
State rules define net metering as a full retail credit for each kilowatt-hour your system produces, up to your use over the year. In 2024, Board Staff began a proceeding on an updated net metering mechanism for new customers.
Source: New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, Notice in Docket QO24090723, which cites N.J.A.C. 14:8-1.2 (public meeting of 19 Nov 2024); Board of Public Utilities, About BPU (undated). Checked 9 Oct 2026.
My Solar Brokers is a comparison website that connects homeowners in Pennsylvania and New Jersey with installer partners. It does not install solar.
The federal Residential Clean Energy Credit is not available for property placed in service after 31 December 2025, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) says. Ask every installer which incentives its quote assumes and who claims them.
Source: Internal Revenue Service, "Residential Clean Energy Credit" (page updated 4 Jul 2026). Checked 9 Oct 2026.
Under net metering, where it is available to you, the amount of electricity you are billed for is reduced by what you send back to the grid during the billing period. The rules for the credit rate and the year-end settlement depend on your market, as the cards above show.
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Glossary, "Net metering" (undated). Checked 9 Oct 2026.
Not on its own. The Department of Energy says grid-connected panels are designed to switch off if the grid power cuts out, and that powering a home through an outage takes a properly configured inverter and a storage system.
Source: U.S. Department of Energy, "Solar and Resilience Basics" (undated). Checked 9 Oct 2026.
Start with the roof. The Department of Energy tells homeowners to consider the roof's age and how long until it needs replacing, and says age or tree cover can make a roof a poor fit.
Source: U.S. Department of Energy, "Homeowner's Guide to Solar" (undated; roof guidance only). Checked 9 Oct 2026.
