Press Release from North Haven Clean Energy Task Force

As Connecticut’s electricity becomes increasingly expensive with each passing year, more and more homeowners are making the switch to solar. There is some terminology which is important to understand and also some misconceptions.

One aspect of the solar power process which can be confusing is the term “net metering.” In basic terms, this is a phrase which explains the process of how a home shares the power which its solar panels produce with its utility company and how it is determined what, if anything, a homeowner is charged for electricity. Depending on the time of year and the amount of sun which shines on solar panels in any given month, the panels produce power. Any power which is not used in the house in any month is sent to the state’s electricity grid, and the homeowner is credited on their monthly bill.

The power produced by the panels and used by the house is tracked by a meter at the house. Another meter tracks power needed from the utility or excess solar panel power sent back to the electricity grid.

That homeowner is charged only for the “net” amount of electricity which the home uses in a given month, meaning that if the solar panels meet 95% of the house electricity needs, the 5% net is what the utility will provide and charge the homeowner. If the panels produce more power than the house needs, the extra is sent to the grid. That “extra” is received and recorded on the homeowner’s monthly utility bill—either United Illuminating or Eversource—as a credit toward the homeowner’s future power needs. The great news is that these credits no longer expire, as they once did. The credits accumulate in the homeowner account from month to month and year to year to be used to cover future costs such as additional electric appliances or a device to recharge an electric car, for example.

Previously, before January 2022, any utility credits earned and not used by the end of the year were paid three months later in March or were applied to any balance on a billing statement. Under the previous system, homeowners were paid less for the electricity created by their solar panels than the utility got to charge for the same electricity.

If a home’s solar system is sized properly and therefore meets the home’s power needs, than any accumulated credits can cover increased power needs in months where more electricity is used either for heating/cooling or items such as pool pumps. When the panels do not produce enough power to cover a home’s needs—this could happen in late autumn or winter when there is less sun for the panels to covert to electricity—homes pull the needed power from the utility, and either the extra power credits in the account can be used to make that payment, or the utility will charge to meet that need.

For anyone who has considered installing solar panels, late autumn is an ideal time to start the process, as it can take from four to six months from start to finish, and the panels will be ready to catch the most steady and strongest sun in the spring.

Krista Polinsky is a member of the North Haven Clean Energy Task Force and a solar company broker.