Delaware solar net metering: how your export credits actually work

With the federal solar credit gone for any system finished after December 31, 2025, the economics of rooftop solar in Delaware now rest on three things: what the panels cost, any state grant you can get, and how your utility credits the electricity you send back to the grid. That last part is net metering, and Delaware changed how it works on January 1, 2024. Many solar quotes still describe it the old way. This guide goes through the rules in Title 26, section 1014 of the Delaware Code, explains what a credit is actually worth on a Delmarva Power bill today, and shows how to check a sales proposal against the law.

We are not solar installers, utility staff or financial advisers. The rules below are summarized from the statute and the Delaware Public Service Commission materials linked at the end. Rates and tariffs change, so confirm the numbers against your own bill.

What net metering is, in one paragraph

A net-metered home uses a single meter that measures electricity flowing both ways. When your panels produce more than the house is using, the surplus flows out to the grid and the meter records it. Section 1014 says that when your production exceeds your on-site use in a billing period, the excess becomes a kilowatt-hour credit, and that credit offsets your consumption in later monthly billing periods. In summer you usually build credits; in winter, when days are short and heating loads may be high, you draw them down.

The size limits

Section 1014 sets two limits on a system that wants to be net metered, and a proposal that ignores either is a red flag.

• Capacity per meter. For a residential customer of Delmarva Power, the Delaware Electric Cooperative or a municipal utility, the system can be up to 25 kilowatts. Nonresidential Delmarva customers can go up to 2 megawatts per meter; Delaware Electric Cooperative and municipal nonresidential customers are limited to 500 kilowatts per meter, with those utilities encouraged to allow up to 2 megawatts.
• 110% of your usage. The system must be designed to produce no more than 110% of the home's expected annual consumption, calculated from the average of the two previous 12-month periods of actual usage at the time of installation. For new construction, consumption is estimated at 110% of similar units.

A typical residential array is well under 25 kW, so in practice the 110% rule is the one that bites. It also caps the value of oversizing: a system sized well above what you use would produce credits you could never consume, and as the next section explains, Delaware will not pay you for them.

What happens to unused credits at year end

This is the change most homeowners have not caught up with. Net metering runs on an annualized billing period. The statute says excess credits carry over into later annualized billing periods, and that the utility shall not, at the end of the annualized period, reimburse, credit or otherwise pay the customer for any excess kilowatt-hour credits. In plain terms, there is no year-end check. Credits roll forward; they are never cashed out.

So a system that produces exactly what the house uses over a year is close to ideal, and one that produces much more is simply generating electricity you hand to the utility for nothing. Before you sign, compare the proposal's estimated annual production to the last two years of usage on your bills. If production is well above usage, ask why, and ask what the extra panels cost.

What a credit is worth since January 1, 2024

The other change concerns value. For utilities regulated by the Public Service Commission, which includes Delmarva Power, the statute says that starting January 1, 2024, each monthly kilowatt-hour credit is valued at the volumetric, per-kWh components of the supply and distribution charges on the customer's rate schedule, excluding the societal benefits program charges. It also says credits cannot reduce fixed monthly customer charges.

That has two practical effects:

1. Your bill will not reach zero. The fixed monthly customer charge stays, however many credits you have. A proposal that shows a $0 bill in summer has made a mistake.
2. A credit is worth slightly less than a kilowatt-hour you avoid using. Power your panels produce and the house uses directly offsets every per-kWh charge on the bill. A credit offsets the per-kWh supply and distribution charges but not the excluded charges. Some sellers still describe Delaware net metering as "one-for-one at the full retail rate." Under the current statute that is not accurate for Delmarva customers.

The difference is usually modest, but it adds up over a 20-year payback calculation, and it is one more reason to size the system to your usage rather than above it.

A worked example

Take a Delmarva home that used 10,000 kWh in each of the last two years. Under the 110% rule the system can be designed for up to about 11,000 kWh a year. Suppose the installer proposes 9,500 kWh, and the house uses roughly 40% of that directly as it is produced. Then about 3,800 kWh offsets usage in real time and about 5,700 kWh goes to the grid as credits. Those credits are drawn down in winter against the 6,200 kWh or so the house still needs from the grid. The year ends with no surplus, so nothing is lost at the reset, and every credit was applied at the volumetric supply and distribution rate.

Now suppose the same home were sold a 13,000 kWh system. It would be over the 110% design limit, and even if it could be interconnected, roughly 3,000 kWh a year of credits would carry forward unused indefinitely. Those panels earn nothing. The numbers here are illustrative, not a forecast; your own direct-use share depends on when you are home and what you run.

Who owns the renewable energy credits

Separate from the kilowatt-hour credits on your bill, a solar system creates renewable energy certificates, which in Delaware are often called SRECs. Section 1014 says the customer-generator keeps ownership of all renewable energy credits unless ownership has been transferred by contract or otherwise. That "by contract" clause is the one to read for. Some financing and grant arrangements require you to hand the certificates over, and our post on the Green Energy Program rebate versus selling your SRECs works through that trade-off.

Fees the utility may not charge

The statute says electric suppliers shall not charge a net-metering customer any stand-by fees or similar charges. The narrow exception lets the Delaware Electric Cooperative and municipal utilities ask the Delaware Energy Office to assess a fee on nonresidential net-metering customers where their direct costs outweigh the benefits. A residential customer should not see a solar surcharge on the bill.

Community solar, if your roof will not work

Section 1014 also allows customers to aggregate their meters with a community-owned generating facility. Such a facility can be no larger than 4 megawatts, no single subscription can exceed 200 kilowatts, and no subscriber can exceed 60% of the facility's capacity. The facility keeps the renewable energy credits unless it has transferred them by contract. If shading, a north-facing roof or renting rules out your own array, ask whether a subscription is available in your area and how its credits appear on the bill.

Checking a solar proposal against the statute

1. Is the system at or under 25 kW, and is estimated annual production at or under 110% of your two-year average usage?
2. Does the savings estimate keep the fixed monthly customer charge on every bill?
3. Does it value exported power below the full retail rate, as the 2024 rule requires?
4. Does it assume any year-end payout? There is none.
5. Who keeps the SRECs, and is that written in the contract?
6. Has it dropped the federal 30% credit for any system finished in 2026? See which federal credits ended and when.

FAQ

Will Delmarva pay me for the electricity I export?

Not in cash. Excess production becomes kilowatt-hour credits that offset later bills, and the statute says the utility will not pay you for leftover credits at the end of the annualized period.

Can I make my bill zero with net metering?

No. Credits cannot reduce the fixed monthly customer charge.

How big a system can I install?

Up to 25 kW for a residential customer, and designed to produce no more than 110% of your expected annual usage based on the past two years.

Do I keep my SRECs?

Yes, unless you transfer them by contract, which some financing and grant programs require. Read the agreement.