Federal ITC 30% (tax credit)
State tax credit: Yes ($1,000)
Net metering (by utility)
There can be solar tax credits and incentives available at the federal, state and local levels. The calculator above will show you the value of all incentives your home is eligible for.
Massachusetts legislators have made the state one of the best places in the country to install home solar panels. Because of all the great solar incentives here, you can expect a solar payback in as little as 6 years. That rate of return significantly outpaces other investments relative to the low level of risk associated with the sun rising every morning.
Learn what solar incentives are available to Massachusetts homeowners
See what Massachusetts solar incentives you qualify for based on your utility company and city
Find out how much these incentives and/or Massachusetts solar tax credits will reduce your cost to go solar and add batteries
The federal solar investment tax credit will have the biggest impact on the cost you will face to go solar in Massachusetts
If you install your photovoltaic system before the end of 2032, the federal tax credit is 30% of the cost of your solar panel system. This is 30% off the entire cost of the system including equipment, labor, and permitting.
Example: If your solar energy system costs $20,000, your federal solar tax credit would be $20,000 x 30% = $6,000.
The federal tax credit falls to 26% starting in 2033.
With net metering in some states, you get full retail rate credit for the amount of electricity you send back into the grid with your solar panels.
Net Metering requires your utility to monitor how much energy your solar power system produces and how much energy you actually consume, and make sure you get credit for the surplus. Massachusetts has recently reaffirmed its commitment to net metering for residential solar systems, so you can rest easier knowing the state has your back.
For Massachusetts residents under Class I residential net metering rules for solar, any extra energy your panels produce is credited to your bill and carried over indefinitely.
Net metering in Massachusetts is a huge boon for you as a solar owner, especially with electricity prices reaching over $0.30 per kilowatt-hour in Boston.
Massachusetts used to have a nice, simple statewide rebate program called "The Commonwealth Solar II Rebate Program". Sadly, the program has now closed, because it was so effective that funding ran out. Luckily, some local municipal utilities have stepped in to take the place. Unfortunately, these small companies serve only a fraction of the state's population.
Massachusetts has devised an ingenious progressive solar incentive system that favors low-income, small-scale and community solar energy projects. It’s called the SMART program. At the program’s core is a formula that includes a base compensation rate that decreases as your system gets larger.
For every kilowatt-hour (kWh) of solar energy you produce with your solar panel system as long as it’s 25 kW or less (that’s about an 80 panel installation, way more than enough electricity for a very large household’s needs), you get paid a 230% multiple of the base compensation rate. Special compensation rate adders are available for community shared solar projects, low-income properties, and/or both!
The SMART Program requires the 3 main Electric Distribution Companies (EDCs)—Eversource, National Grid, and Unitil—to make incentive payments directly to homeowners who install solar systems within their territory. The incentive is calculated based on a "block" system, where each block represents about 200 MW of solar energy generation capacity.
Each time a block is filled (i.e. 200 MW of solar are installed), the incentive amount decreases slightly. So people who install systems in the earlier blocks get higher incentive payments than those who wait to install later.
At the current level (2021), people who install solar on their homes are eligible for a net incentive payment of about $.08/kWh for 10 years. Considering the average Massachusetts home solar system generates around 7,900 kWh per year, that's over $630 in incentive payments per year.
Low income households enrolled in the program can expect an additional incentive of between 3 to 5 cents per kWh. That increases average SMART incentive payments to near $950 every year.
The definition of low income for the program is decided by each individual utility, but in general those with a maximum income 80% below the state’s median income will likely meet such requirements, though this is not guaranteed.
Learn more: Read our post about the SMART Solar Program here.
Massachusetts offers a 15% tax credit off the net costs of your solar system, but only up to a maximum of $1,000 (net costs, meaning cost minus the federal 30% tax credit).
Basically, for most systems, count on $1,000 off next year's state income tax bill, on top of the big savings from the Feds.
When the Massachusetts property tax man or woman cometh to assess your new solar home, they can’t assess you another dime for 20 years -- despite the fact that you’ll be adding roughly 20 times your annual electricity bill savings to your property value. In an example 5kW solar system, that adds up to about $19,890 (20 times your annual electricity savings of $995).
In addition to the property tax exemption, you don’t pay sales tax on your system either, so the installed price is the installed price.
Showing data for:
Prices based on a 8.5kW system, after 30% federal tax credit
77 solar companies in Massachusetts provide pricing on SolarReviews. Here are the best rated companies near you.
4.91 106 Reviews
C Summers, 3 days ago
John P. was unfailingly patient with all of the questiosn that we had about the system, the federal funds that would help us pay for it, the performance we could expect, the installation details, and on and on. At one point after the system was installed there was a power outage in our area as I was driving up to the house with my mother. I was worried about us arriving there to no power and John went above and beyond to make sure power had been restored to the house and it would be warm when we arrived. Support after installation has also been stellar. That is probably made easier by the installers doing really good work, but any issues I have had I've reached out to John or the support team and it has been handled immediately. There are a lot of choices for solar installation out there. Sunenergy really worked well for our project.
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C Summers, 3 days ago
John P. was unfailingly patient with all of the questiosn that we had about the system, the federal funds that would help us pay for it, the performance we could expect, the installation details, and on and on. At one point after the system was installed there was a power outage in our area as I was driving up to the house with my mother. I was worried about us arriving there to no power and John went above and beyond to make sure power had been restored to the house and it would be warm when we arrived. Support after installation has also been stellar. That is probably made easier by the installers doing really good work, but any issues I have had I've reached out to John or the support team and it has been handled immediately. There are a lot of choices for solar installation out there. Sunenergy really worked well for our project.
4.86 163 Reviews
Steven Dube, over 1 month
The team at Mass Renewables was a pleasure to work with. From the early estimating and vetting process, through panel layouts, permitting, scheduling of the work, and everything else, the team did an exceptional job communicating and answering all of my questions. The quality, price, and timeliness of the work was great and I am happy with my system. Almost 2 years after the original install, my system has been underperforming a bit and the team is still working with me to troubleshoot an issue with two panels and potentially add an additional panel to help. All in all, I am impressed with Mass Renewables and would recommend them for your solar needs.
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Average cost (5kW system)
$20,000 ($4.00 per watt)
Steven Dube, over 1 month
The team at Mass Renewables was a pleasure to work with. From the early estimating and vetting process, through panel layouts, permitting, scheduling of the work, and everything else, the team did an exceptional job communicating and answering all of my questions. The quality, price, and timeliness of the work was great and I am happy with my system. Almost 2 years after the original install, my system has been underperforming a bit and the team is still working with me to troubleshoot an issue with two panels and potentially add an additional panel to help. All in all, I am impressed with Mass Renewables and would recommend them for your solar needs.
4.85 482 Reviews
Greg Knopff, 6 days ago
I was very impressed with the work and the people working for All Energy Solar. They all seem to really enjoy their jobs and it shows in the work
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Greg Knopff, 6 days ago
I was very impressed with the work and the people working for All Energy Solar. They all seem to really enjoy their jobs and it shows in the work
4.84 216 Reviews
Stephen, over 1 month
Great information from the designers showing us how it all will work for us. Great people to work with very knowledgeable in there field. The installation went great with the crew very good information again very professional.
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Average cost (5kW system)
$20,050 ($4.01 per watt)
Stephen, over 1 month
Great information from the designers showing us how it all will work for us. Great people to work with very knowledgeable in there field. The installation went great with the crew very good information again very professional.
4.83 71 Reviews
John Doe, over 1 month
Couldn't be happier with the results. We chose to install panels and the solar battery and its been great. The NEC Solar staff were friendly and polite when installing and seem to have done a great job. We have had some rough storms and everything has been fine. The support after installation has also been great. I had to reach out to them earlier this year (over a year after installation) as I had a leak through the roof and was instructed to contact the solar company as they may have damaged the roof. The team came out within a day and went onto the roof and confirmed everything looked fine (and that it was actually the area around the chimney which looked like the culprit). A roof company came and repaired the chimney which had nothing to do with the installation from NEC Solar. We didn't have the panels installed until fall of 2022 so we didn't see much of a result (which was expected). In 2023, my electric bill was 0 from April-November. My entire house runs on electricity and I work from home and am using lots of electricity. The solar battery also works very well. There was a storm earlier this year knocked out the power lines and we had no power for almost a whole day and we didn't experience any effects in our house as the battery system immediately kicked in. Lastly, I love that I can view the solar production and manage the battery through the website/app. Very convenient. Whatever your reasons--be it environmental or to save a ton of money (my reasons) or some other reason, go with a local company like NEC Solar--I highly recommend!
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John Doe, over 1 month
Couldn't be happier with the results. We chose to install panels and the solar battery and its been great. The NEC Solar staff were friendly and polite when installing and seem to have done a great job. We have had some rough storms and everything has been fine. The support after installation has also been great. I had to reach out to them earlier this year (over a year after installation) as I had a leak through the roof and was instructed to contact the solar company as they may have damaged the roof. The team came out within a day and went onto the roof and confirmed everything looked fine (and that it was actually the area around the chimney which looked like the culprit). A roof company came and repaired the chimney which had nothing to do with the installation from NEC Solar. We didn't have the panels installed until fall of 2022 so we didn't see much of a result (which was expected). In 2023, my electric bill was 0 from April-November. My entire house runs on electricity and I work from home and am using lots of electricity. The solar battery also works very well. There was a storm earlier this year knocked out the power lines and we had no power for almost a whole day and we didn't experience any effects in our house as the battery system immediately kicked in. Lastly, I love that I can view the solar production and manage the battery through the website/app. Very convenient. Whatever your reasons--be it environmental or to save a ton of money (my reasons) or some other reason, go with a local company like NEC Solar--I highly recommend!
4.79 80 Reviews
Jerry B., 1 week ago
I have yet to have multi-day power outage since installing 2-13.5 kwh SunVault batteries. During winter months I leave fully charged since sun & possible snow cover will impede solar production, so a fail-safe for the long power outage possibility. Now that better weather is here and not worried about freezing pipes, I am running the batteries overnight to power the home. So far, has the SunVault system has been working great with balancing the battery, grid and solar production usage in the home. I use about 50% of the batteries (one battery) each evening and it is typically charged up by 11 am local time, a little later on the cloudy days (yes, arrays still produce). My system is sized enough to power home on all but the darkest days where the battery supplements. If we get multiple days of rain, then I'm back on the grid using some of the credits I have stored at Eversource after the batteries are 100% recharged each day. I have no idea when the SunVault system switches to battery from the grid and vice versa, no issues with any electronics in the home when it does and it works in the "normal" daily living space fantastically. I will update this review if my micro-grid fails during a multi-day grid power outage as it is my expectation the solar array will not be shut down so the house and batteries can use the produced electricity until the grid is repaired. This is the real reason I go the batteries as had a 2018 summer Tropical Storm knock out power for 6-days and it was sunny for 5 of those days but my solar array was useless without a battery system attached. Fingers crossed this works as promoted and promised. The staff was great at every process of the sales, install and post-install support process as there are always questions and weird things with electricity that sometimes needs a call. Thank you, Jordan, my install team and Kim for helping and teaching me about the system. SavKat is a local, family-owned operation that is simply the best, highly recommend talking to them before going too far into your solar planning.
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Jerry B., 1 week ago
I have yet to have multi-day power outage since installing 2-13.5 kwh SunVault batteries. During winter months I leave fully charged since sun & possible snow cover will impede solar production, so a fail-safe for the long power outage possibility. Now that better weather is here and not worried about freezing pipes, I am running the batteries overnight to power the home. So far, has the SunVault system has been working great with balancing the battery, grid and solar production usage in the home. I use about 50% of the batteries (one battery) each evening and it is typically charged up by 11 am local time, a little later on the cloudy days (yes, arrays still produce). My system is sized enough to power home on all but the darkest days where the battery supplements. If we get multiple days of rain, then I'm back on the grid using some of the credits I have stored at Eversource after the batteries are 100% recharged each day. I have no idea when the SunVault system switches to battery from the grid and vice versa, no issues with any electronics in the home when it does and it works in the "normal" daily living space fantastically. I will update this review if my micro-grid fails during a multi-day grid power outage as it is my expectation the solar array will not be shut down so the house and batteries can use the produced electricity until the grid is repaired. This is the real reason I go the batteries as had a 2018 summer Tropical Storm knock out power for 6-days and it was sunny for 5 of those days but my solar array was useless without a battery system attached. Fingers crossed this works as promoted and promised. The staff was great at every process of the sales, install and post-install support process as there are always questions and weird things with electricity that sometimes needs a call. Thank you, Jordan, my install team and Kim for helping and teaching me about the system. SavKat is a local, family-owned operation that is simply the best, highly recommend talking to them before going too far into your solar planning.
4.77 81 Reviews
Janet H., over 1 month
From start to finish this was an exceptional process. It was a throwback to a time when customer service was all about the customer. We were kept informed every step of the way, called if there was a delay for any reason, work was done timely, staff were more than competent and I was completely comfortable having them in and on my home. The work area was always cleaned before they left for the day. It was so refreshing to work with a company that does quality work, with quality products and cares about the client experience from start to finish.
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Average cost (5kW system)
$18,600 ($3.72 per watt)
Janet H., over 1 month
From start to finish this was an exceptional process. It was a throwback to a time when customer service was all about the customer. We were kept informed every step of the way, called if there was a delay for any reason, work was done timely, staff were more than competent and I was completely comfortable having them in and on my home. The work area was always cleaned before they left for the day. It was so refreshing to work with a company that does quality work, with quality products and cares about the client experience from start to finish.
4.76 308 Reviews
Jonathan Helmuth, 2 weeks ago
Mark Durrenberger and the New England Clean Energy Team are fantastic. They did a great install. Super professional. Easy to work with. Could not ask for more. Will be recommending NECE to all of our friends and family.
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Average cost (5kW system)
$21,450 ($4.29 per watt)
Jonathan Helmuth, 2 weeks ago
Mark Durrenberger and the New England Clean Energy Team are fantastic. They did a great install. Super professional. Easy to work with. Could not ask for more. Will be recommending NECE to all of our friends and family.
4.76 69 Reviews
Eric L, 1 week ago
My wife and I were shopping around for solar and the best panels, best company, lowest price, and so on. Earthlight checked all the boxes! If you are thinking about going solar, don’t go with anyone else. This company is by far the best. The customer service is incredible, and the product they stand behind. Everyone I’ve been in touch with has been extremely friendly and informative.
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Eric L, 1 week ago
My wife and I were shopping around for solar and the best panels, best company, lowest price, and so on. Earthlight checked all the boxes! If you are thinking about going solar, don’t go with anyone else. This company is by far the best. The customer service is incredible, and the product they stand behind. Everyone I’ve been in touch with has been extremely friendly and informative.
4.73 588 Reviews
Lillian, 6 days ago
The only part of the process that was painless was the great salesman, but I guess that is their gimmick, "Rope you in with first impressions and then screw you along the way." The first day they were supposed to work 1 man showed up claiming the other worker was in an accident, but he would do all he could alone, he worked half a day and barely nothing was done. But assured us all would be competed the next day when the team was together. The next day, no one showed. My husband called, they said they had to finish another job first and would be over before 12. They showed after 3 pm, but did stay to finish the installation. Next step was the electrical which they said would be no problem with my existing box, when electrician showed he claimed that was not the case they needed to run new lines and add a bigger box.... hence more waiting time! They never set up an appointment for the work and just showed up when they wanted, thank goodness my husband was working from home. When the box was completed there was a humming in my house which the electrician claimed had nothing to do with him even though it was not there previously, my husband had to fix the problem himself. Now time for inspection, they said they would call to make an appointment, never did, but showed up at the house without an appointment, once again husband was home working so he gave them access to the garage. Electricity failed inspection ! It is now more than 4 months later, no adjustments made and no inspection. This weekend we went to open our pool and guess what? They eliminated the circuit for the pool filter, hence the pool is not working. When we try to get in touch with them neither Sunova or Venture take responsibility they need 7-10 days to review the complaint/ request. What a mess!!!!! They are unreliable and inexperienced!! Never mind impossible to get in touch with after initial sale, DO NOT SIGN WITH THEM!
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Lillian, 6 days ago
The only part of the process that was painless was the great salesman, but I guess that is their gimmick, "Rope you in with first impressions and then screw you along the way." The first day they were supposed to work 1 man showed up claiming the other worker was in an accident, but he would do all he could alone, he worked half a day and barely nothing was done. But assured us all would be competed the next day when the team was together. The next day, no one showed. My husband called, they said they had to finish another job first and would be over before 12. They showed after 3 pm, but did stay to finish the installation. Next step was the electrical which they said would be no problem with my existing box, when electrician showed he claimed that was not the case they needed to run new lines and add a bigger box.... hence more waiting time! They never set up an appointment for the work and just showed up when they wanted, thank goodness my husband was working from home. When the box was completed there was a humming in my house which the electrician claimed had nothing to do with him even though it was not there previously, my husband had to fix the problem himself. Now time for inspection, they said they would call to make an appointment, never did, but showed up at the house without an appointment, once again husband was home working so he gave them access to the garage. Electricity failed inspection ! It is now more than 4 months later, no adjustments made and no inspection. This weekend we went to open our pool and guess what? They eliminated the circuit for the pool filter, hence the pool is not working. When we try to get in touch with them neither Sunova or Venture take responsibility they need 7-10 days to review the complaint/ request. What a mess!!!!! They are unreliable and inexperienced!! Never mind impossible to get in touch with after initial sale, DO NOT SIGN WITH THEM!
For more information about going solar near where you live, check out the following resources: