Maine solar in 2026

Maine energy is expensive. A roof can be cheaper.

The right comparison is not electricity versus natural gas. It is a retail kWh at 28.63 cents against a paid-off solar kWh modeled at about 9.2 cents. That does not make every roof viable. Shading and load still rule. It does make Maine's retail price unusually consequential.

Rooftop credits survived the policy reset

Maine calls the residential structure Net Energy Billing. Under the kWh Credit Program, a customer receives a credit for every kWh delivered to the grid, one for one, and unused credits expire after 12 months. This is unusually valuable when the avoided retail purchase costs 28.63 cents per kWh.

LD 1777 is why a salesperson should be precise about what they are selling. The 2025 reform makes community solar and other front-of-the-meter projects ineligible for net metering, starts a monthly utility fee for community solar owners in January 2026, and changes the future path for tariff-rate projects. None of that converts a behind-the-meter rooftop installation into a community-solar subscription.

Policy sources: Maine Governor’s Energy Office; LD 1777 coverage.

Maine specifics worth acting on

• Keep the proposal behind the meter. Maine's residential kWh Credit Program and a community-solar subscription are not interchangeable products.
• Ask for a 12-month load history before accepting a system size. Credit expiration makes a chronic oversize system less forgiving.
• Property-tax treatment has statutory eligibility conditions, including special rules for property-tax years beginning on or after April 1, 2025. Get the system structure in writing.
• Do not let Maine's 32nd-place SEIA ranking substitute for a roof analysis. The retail rate and credit mechanics can matter more than a ranking.

In Maine, identify which side of the meter the offer belongs on

The residential case rests on the kWh Credit Program. It is open to utility customers and gives one-to-one credits for every kWh sent to the grid, offsetting later charges. Unused credits expire after 12 months. That expiration matters in the design conversation: a proposal can model a large annual total and still be weak if it creates a chronic pile of credits that cannot be used before they disappear.

Do not let that rooftop rule blur into the Tariff Rate Program. That program is for non-residential customers and uses dollar credits at a rate determined annually by the Maine Public Utilities Commission. Its credits cannot take a bill below $0. Existing customer tariff rates are tied to the standard-offer supply rate plus a fixed portion of transmission and distribution. A homeowner comparing products should ask which track is actually being proposed, then make the seller show the result on the household's own bill pattern.

LD 1777 makes the distinction sharper. Signed in 2025, it excludes community solar and other front-of-the-meter projects from net metering. A monthly utility fee for community solar owners begins in January 2026, and distributed-generation tariff rates under 5 MW rise 2.25% each year beginning January 1, 2027. The law also applies retroactive charges to front-of-the-meter projects that are operating or in development. Those are not small footnotes. They are a reason not to use “solar” as if every arrangement had the same economics.

Property-tax treatment has its own conditions. For tax years beginning on or after April 1, 2025, the track requires either collocation with subscribed Net Energy Billing customers, or a prior interconnection agreement. Ask the installer to identify the relevant track rather than simply writing “exempt” beside a project price.

Sources: Maine Governor’s Energy Office; LD 1777 coverage; 36 M.R.S. §656.

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