ConnectedSolutions: Getting Paid for Your Home Battery in Massachusetts

What is ConnectedSolutions?

ConnectedSolutions is a Mass Save program that pays you to let your utility use some of the energy stored in your home battery when the New England grid is under the most strain. That usually means a hot summer afternoon, when air conditioners are running everywhere and power is most expensive to supply.

Instead of firing up an extra power plant for a few hours, the utility asks thousands of home batteries to discharge at once. You're paid for how much your battery contributes. It's called a demand response program, and it's the main way a battery earns money in Massachusetts.

The program is run by the Mass Save sponsors: Eversource, National Grid and Cape Light Compact. Our guide to solar batteries and backup power covers whether a battery makes sense for your home in the first place. This article goes deeper on the Massachusetts program.

How much does ConnectedSolutions pay?

As of October 2026, Mass Save pays $275 per kW of your battery's average contribution during summer events. That rate applies to customers of Eversource, National Grid and Cape Light Compact.

"Average contribution" is the key phrase. For each event, the program measures how much power your battery discharges, in kilowatts, averaged over the length of the event. At the end of the summer, it averages those results across every event and multiplies by $275. An event you skip, or one your battery misses because it lost its internet connection, counts as zero and pulls your average down.

New enrollments get a 5-year incentive lock. Your per-kW rate stays the same for your first five years in the program, even if Mass Save changes the rate for new customers. After that, you get whatever rate the program offers at the time.

Payments for each summer are made in October, November or December. When you apply, you choose whether the payments go to you or to another party. Some installers offer an upfront discount on the battery in exchange for receiving the payments, so ask which way your quote works.

What happens during a ConnectedSolutions event?

Very little that you'll notice. The utility sends the event signal straight to your battery's inverter, and the battery discharges on its own. Mass Save's program details describe the discharge as barely noticeable, if at all. Your lights stay on and your home keeps running normally.

Many homeowners buy a battery for backup power, so a fair question is whether an event could leave you with an empty battery right before an outage. The program addresses that in two ways. The utilities don't call events during declared emergency storm responses and try to avoid them when large storms are forecast. For a sudden local storm, you can talk to your battery manufacturer about opting out of an event, though a skipped event counts as zero kW toward your average.

The program materials don't set a single rule for how much charge you keep in reserve during an event. Ask your installer how much backup your battery holds back and whether you can change that setting.

Who qualifies, and how do you enroll?

To join ConnectedSolutions as a homeowner, you need:

• The right utility. An Eversource or National Grid account in Massachusetts, or service through Cape Light Compact on Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard. Unitil customers can't participate right now.
• An approved battery. The battery has to be controlled by an inverter from an approved manufacturer, such as Tesla, Enphase, SolarEdge or FranklinWH. Mass Save keeps the current list.
• A home-sized system. Battery inverters under 50 kW use this program, which covers nearly every home.

Solar isn't required. A stand-alone battery can qualify, and so can a battery added to solar you already have.

Enrollment runs through your battery's manufacturer. You complete a ConnectedSolutions application, and the manufacturer submits it to your utility and registers your inverter. Your installer usually helps with this step. To get credit for a full summer, the application has to reach your utility by May 31. You can still join later, but any events you miss count as zero.

Once you're in, you stay enrolled year after year until you ask in writing to leave. Enrollment doesn't transfer to the next owner if you sell your home. The new owner applies on their own at the rate offered then.

How does ConnectedSolutions fit with SMART 3.0 and net metering?

The three programs pay for different things, and you can be in all of them at once.

• Net metering credits your bill for extra solar power your panels send to the grid. The program rules say you can take part in net metering and ConnectedSolutions together. Our guide to how net metering works explains the credits.
• SMART 3.0 pays a flat rate for every kilowatt-hour your panels produce. For home systems of 25 kW or less, it no longer adds a bonus for having a battery, so a battery doesn't raise your SMART payment. Our SMART 3.0 guide has the current rate.
• ConnectedSolutions pays for what your battery delivers on peak summer afternoons.

That makes ConnectedSolutions the main way a battery pays you back in Massachusetts, along with the backup power it gives you. Some websites still count a SMART battery bonus for home systems, so if a quote does, ask where the number comes from. Our Massachusetts solar incentives page and the pages for Eversource and National Grid customers cover the solar side.

How can you pay for a battery in Massachusetts?

There are a few good ways to bring the cost down or spread it out:

• Mass Save HEAT Loan. 0% financing of up to $25,000 for a battery, with up to 7 years to repay. It doesn't cover solar panels. You fill out the intake form yourself, and by applying for a battery you agree to enroll it in ConnectedSolutions once it's online.
• A lease or PPA. A battery that's part of a lease or power purchase agreement can still qualify for the 30% federal credit, which lowers the rate or price you pay. Ask who receives the ConnectedSolutions payments under that agreement.
• A solar loan or cash. A battery can be part of the same financing as your panels. Note that the 30% federal homeowner credit, which used to cover batteries, ended for systems installed after December 31, 2025, so ConnectedSolutions and the HEAT Loan now do much of that work. Our guide to solar loan programs in Massachusetts and Connecticut compares the options.

Batteries installed as part of an Evergreen Solar system are covered by the same 25-year warranty as the system. That matters here, because ConnectedSolutions pays on actual performance: a battery that's kept online and working earns its full share each summer. Our page on how solar panel batteries work explains the equipment itself.

Frequently asked questions