Newton, MA

The Massachusetts Residential Renewable Energy Tax Credit offers homeowners a valuable financial incentive when they install qualifying solar or wind energy systems in their primary residence. This state tax credit allows you to deduct 15% of your net expenditure (after federal credits and rebates) from your Massachusetts personal income tax, up to a maximum of $1,000. This credit directly reduces your state tax liability, putting money back in your pocket while you transition to clean energy.

To qualify, you must be a Massachusetts resident who owns or rents your primary residence and is not claimed as a dependent on another person’s tax return. The renewable energy system must be new, expected to operate for at least five years, and primarily used for residential purposes (at least 80% residential use). If you don’t use the full credit amount in one year, you can carry over any remaining credit for up to three additional tax years. Remember that certain components like insulation, thermal windows, or maintenance costs don’t qualify as renewable energy expenditures under this program.

Massachusetts offers a Property Tax Exemption for residential solar systems that provides significant financial benefits to homeowners. This incentive exempts qualifying solar systems from property taxes for 20 years, meaning the added value of your solar installation won’t increase your property tax bill. This can result in thousands of dollars in savings over the life of your system, as most municipalities would otherwise tax the added property value created by installing solar panels.

To qualify for this exemption, your solar system must meet one of these requirements: 1) produce no more than 125% of your property’s annual electricity needs, 2) have a capacity of 25 kilowatts or less (verified by state documentation), or 3) have a payment in lieu of taxes agreement with your municipality. The exemption automatically applies for 20 years from installation, though longer periods may be negotiated with your municipality. Important note: this exemption doesn’t apply to community solar projects or systems owned by utility companies. To ensure you receive this benefit, verify your eligibility with your local tax assessor before July 1st of each tax year.

The Massachusetts Solar Equipment Sales Tax Exemption is a valuable state incentive that eliminates the 6.25% sales tax on solar energy system purchases. This exemption applies to all solar equipment including panels, inverters, mounting hardware, and other components needed for a complete solar installation. For the average homeowner, this can translate to savings of $1,000-$1,500 on a typical residential solar system.

To qualify for this exemption, you must purchase solar equipment that will be used for residential or commercial purposes in Massachusetts. There is no application process – the exemption is automatically applied at the point of sale when purchasing from a registered vendor. This incentive has no expiration date and is available year-round with no caps or limits. When combined with other incentives like the federal tax credit, this sales tax exemption helps make solar more affordable for Massachusetts homeowners.

The ConnectedSolutions Battery Incentive program in Massachusetts rewards homeowners who allow their battery storage systems to support the electrical grid during peak demand periods. Through this state program, administered by Mass Save, participants receive $275 per kilowatt (kW) for their battery’s average contribution during summer events. For a typical 5-kW battery system, this could mean earning up to $1,375 annually while helping reduce strain on the grid.

To qualify, you must be a customer of Cape Light Compact, Eversource, or National Grid with a battery system using an eligible inverter from manufacturers like Tesla, Enphase, SolarEdge, and others. Your battery can be installed with new solar panels, added to an existing solar system, or set up as a standalone system. The program runs events between June 1 and September 30, occurring no more than 60 times per summer between 3:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., with each event lasting up to three hours. Additionally, homeowners can access 0% financing through HEAT Loans of up to $25,000 for battery installations, making this clean energy upgrade more affordable.

The Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target (SMART) Program is a state-run incentive program designed to encourage solar development across Massachusetts. This program works differently than a typical rebate – instead, it provides solar system owners with fixed monthly payments directly from their utility company (Eversource, National Grid, or Unitil) for 10 years. These payments are in addition to the savings you’ll see on your electric bill from generating your own solar power.

The SMART Program uses a “declining block” structure, meaning payment rates decrease as more solar capacity is installed. Current payment rates vary based on your system size, location, utility company, and whether you qualify for any adders (like energy storage or low-income benefits). For a typical residential system, incentive payments might range from $0.10 to $0.30 per kilowatt-hour produced. Some blocks may have reached $0.00 incentive rates due to higher electricity prices and the program’s declining structure.

To qualify, your home must be in the service territory of one of the three participating utilities. The program has a total capacity of 3,200 MW across all blocks. Special adders are available for systems that include battery storage, serve low-income households, or are built on brownfields or agricultural land. These adders can significantly increase your payment rate.

The program is ongoing but operates on a first-come, first-served basis within each block. As blocks fill up, the incentive rates decrease, so earlier participation typically means better financial benefits. If you’re considering solar for your home, it’s worth checking the current block status in your utility’s territory to understand what incentive rate you might qualify for.

Net Metering in Massachusetts allows solar homeowners to receive full credit for the excess electricity their systems generate and send back to the grid. When your solar panels produce more electricity than your home uses, your utility meter runs backward, effectively banking this excess energy as credits on your account. These credits are valued at the full retail rate (1:1 credit), meaning you receive the same price for the electricity you generate as what you pay when purchasing from the utility.

For customers of National Grid, Eversource, and Unitil, excess credits are carried over from month to month as a dollar value with no expiration date. Unlike some states, Massachusetts does not have an annual true-up period, allowing your credits to accumulate indefinitely. However, it’s important to note that utilities will not issue cash payments for accumulated credits. For Taunton Municipal Light Department customers, the policy differs slightly – excess monthly production is credited only at the Generation Rate plus Power Cost Adjustment (approximately 6.5-9.5 cents/kWh) rather than the full retail rate.

To qualify for net metering in Massachusetts, you must have a grid-connected solar system installed by a licensed professional. There are no specific deadlines to enroll, as this is an ongoing program, but you’ll need to complete net metering application paperwork with your utility company during the solar installation process. For optimal financial benefit, it’s advisable to size your solar system appropriately to match your annual electricity consumption.