Maine solar rebates and incentives: 2026 guide

Maine doesn't offer the strongest solar incentive programs out there. But that doesn't mean solar isn't worth it—especially if your electric bills are eating up a big chunk of your monthly budget.

Solar's real value isn't about rebates. It's about taking control of your electricity costs for the next 25-30 years. As utility rates continue their steady climb, locking in lower energy costs now can deliver substantial savings over time. Even without robust state programs, many Maine homeowners with decent sun exposure and moderate to high electric bills find that solar still pays for itself. Here's how you may be able to lower your solar costs in Maine—and whether it makes sense for your home.

Unfortunately, Maine doesn't offer many incentives for solar. But if your electric bills are high, going solar can still make sense.

In addition to the federal solar tax credit, Maine also offers a solar property tax exemption. 

Solar panels tend to increase the value of your home, which can translate to slightly higher property taxes. But in Maine, if you power your home with those panels, you can apply for an exemption that allows you to avoid paying taxes on their additional assessed value. Official documents are not clear about how long the exemption lasts, but there are some clues in the text that it’s for the lifetime of the system.

If you connect your solar panel system to the grid, you can benefit from net metering—which is really the ultimate incentive for rooftop solar, even more than big rebates and tax credits. 

Under net metering, the sun doesn’t need to shine all the time to get massive value from your solar panels. Your electric utility company essentially works like a bank account for all the energy your solar panels produce in a given month.

When the sun shines, your home’s electrical system first takes as much power as it needs from the solar panels. If the panels make any excess energy, it gets sent back onto the grid, and your utility company gives you full credit for all of it on your energy bill. 

When the sun isn’t shining and you need grid electricity to power your home, the utility company just starts drawing against your credits. You won’t pay for electricity until those credits run out.

In Maine, the net metering rules work the same way across all electric utilities, including Versant, Central Maine Power, Eastern Maine Electric Coop, and smaller providers.

A few nuances to keep in mind:

• Solar metering in Maine is credited in kWh, rather than dollars. Any monthly fixed costs (like meter connection fees) may need to be paid in cash—kWh credits won’t apply.

• Credits roll over from month to month. Technically, you need to use your energy credits within 12 months of generation, otherwise you surrender them to the utility company. But unless your solar array is drastically oversized, or your home is unoccupied for a while, you’re unlikely to ever lose any credits because it’s a rolling 12-month window. So any credits generated in July are valid until the following July, and September credits are good until the following September, and so on. Credits also get used on a first-in first-out basis, so you’ll always be using up your oldest (closest-to-expiring) credits first.

• A tiny quirk: Maine’s net metering policy is technically known as “net energy billing.” This is a little confusing, because in the solar industry “net billing” is typically used to describe policies with less-favorable terms for consumers. Whatever they call it, Maine has an excellent solar crediting policy, among the best in the U.S.

No, Maine doesn't offer any state-specific battery incentives. Solar batteries don’t make much financial sense for Maine homeowners anyway, because the net metering policy is so consumer friendly that you don’t really benefit from hoarding your solar power. None of the utility companies in Maine offer a virtual power plant program for homeowners, either.