What Solar Costs in New England and What It Saves

The first question most homeowners ask about solar is what it costs. The more useful question is what it costs you each month compared with what you pay the utility now. For most homes in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island, the answer is less, starting with the first bill.

This guide covers what you would pay each month, what sets the price of a system, what each state's incentives are worth, how much solar saves, and how to find out what it would cost for your home.

What does solar cost per month?

Most homeowners don't pay for solar all at once. They swap a utility bill that keeps rising for a solar payment that stays predictable, and that payment is usually lower than the bill it replaces. Across Evergreen Solar customers, savings average about 15% on day one. As utility rates keep climbing, the gap between what you would have paid and what you pay with solar gets wider each year.

Here is what that looks like for a home paying $250 a month for electricity. At the 15% average, the solar payment and the small remaining utility bill come to about $212 together, so the household keeps about $38 in the first month. If utility rates rise 5% the next year, the bill that home would have paid climbs to about $263, while a fixed solar payment stays the same, so the monthly savings grow without you doing anything. These are example numbers, not a quote: your savings depend on your roof, your usage and how you pay. Our guide to the monthly cost of solar panels walks through each payment type.

There are five ways to pay, and three of them start with $0 down:

• Solar loan. You own the system with $0 or little down, pay a fixed monthly loan payment, and keep every state incentive.
• Lease. You pay a fixed monthly amount to use the panels. The company owns and maintains them.
• Power purchase agreement (PPA). You pay only for the power your panels produce, at a set rate per kilowatt-hour that's usually lower than what you pay the utility today.
• Prepaid PPA. One payment up front covers the system's expected power, so there is no monthly solar bill.
• Cash. You pay for the system up front and own it outright, with no loan payments or interest, and you collect every state incentive directly.

With a lease or PPA, you get a discounted rate because the system qualifies for the 30% federal investment credit, which is often a better deal than buying. Our guide to solar financing options compares all five side by side.

What sets the price of a solar system?

Two homes on the same street can get very different quotes, because a system is designed around the house. These are the things that move the price:

• How much electricity you use. We size the system from your past year of bills. A home with an electric car, a heat pump or a pool needs more panels than one without. Here's why installers ask for your bill.
• Your roof. Its direction, pitch, shade and open space decide how many panels fit and how much each one produces. A roof that faces south and gets little shade needs fewer panels for the same output.
• Equipment. Panel and inverter choices, including microinverters, change the price and how the system performs in partial shade.
• Extras. A battery for backup power, an electrical panel upgrade, or a roof replacement before the panels go on all add to the project.
• How you pay. The same system costs you differently as a cash purchase, a loan, a lease or a PPA, because each option uses different incentives.

If your roof needs replacing, our solar + roof program includes the new roof with your solar installation at a reduced price, and the total package often costs less than your current electric bill. Those roofs carry a 50-year warranty.

What do solar incentives take off the price?

Each state we serve backs home solar with its own programs, and which ones you collect depends on how you pay. Owners (cash or loan) collect the state programs directly. With a lease or PPA, the system owner collects the programs it qualifies for, such as SMART 3.0 or RRES, and because the system qualifies for the 30% federal credit, you get a lower payment or rate. Rhode Island's grant is for owned systems only.

To see how it adds up, take a $30,000 sample system bought in Massachusetts that produces 10,000 kilowatt-hours a year. The state tax credit is 15% of the cost up to $1,000, so it reaches the $1,000 cap. For an Eversource, National Grid or Unitil customer, SMART 3.0 pays $0.03 per kilowatt-hour, about $300 a year, for up to 20 years. That's a $1,000 credit plus about $300 a year, before counting a single dollar of bill savings. The system adds no property tax for 20 years, the equipment is free of sales tax, and every kilowatt-hour you send to the grid earns a full-value net metering credit, which applies to most home-sized systems.

Each program has its own guide: SMART 3.0, the Massachusetts solar tax credit, Connecticut's RRES program, the Rhode Island solar grant and the tax credit on leased solar.

How much does solar save?

Solar saves the most where electricity costs the most, and Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island are among the most expensive states in the country. Bay Staters pay over 85% more for electricity than the national average, and rates have risen about 50% in the last five years. Rhode Island electric rates jumped 50% in the last five years too. In Connecticut, about 70% of a typical bill is fees and charges rather than the power itself. If you're in Massachusetts, here's why your National Grid or Eversource bill is so high.

Our state averages for yearly savings with solar:

• Massachusetts: about $1,365 a year
• Connecticut: about $1,285 a year
• Rhode Island: about $1,240 a year

Those savings start on day one, when your solar payment comes in under your current bill, and they compound. Electric rates have tended to rise about 5% a year, so each year the bill you avoid is bigger, while a loan, lease or PPA payment stays steady. Net metering adds to it: the extra power your panels make on sunny days becomes bill credits you use at night and in winter. Our guide to how net metering works explains the credits, and why electric rates keep rising covers the trend.

Your utility bill doesn't disappear, but it shrinks and changes shape. You still pay the fixed monthly customer charge, and in winter, when the days are short, you may draw more from the grid than your panels send back. In summer the reverse happens, and the extra credits carry forward to cover the darker months. Added together over a year, your solar payment plus the smaller utility bill is what you compare with what you pay today, and for most homes that total is lower.

How long does solar take to pay for itself?

The payback period only applies when you buy the system. It is the point where your bill savings and incentives add up to what you paid. After that, the savings are yours to keep for the rest of the panels' life, which averages 25 to 35 years.

Four things shorten it in our states:

• High electric rates. Every kilowatt-hour your panels make is worth more when the utility's price is high.
• Production payments. SMART 3.0 in Massachusetts pays for up to 20 years, and RRES Buy-All in Connecticut pays for 20 years.
• Upfront help. Rhode Island's grant and the Massachusetts tax credit lower what you pay at the start.
• A well-designed system. Panels on the sunniest faces of the roof, sized to your use, produce more for every dollar.

With a lease or PPA there is no payback period to wait out. You pay nothing up front, so for most homes the savings start with your first bill. A prepaid PPA works more like a purchase: you pay once, then have no solar bill for the life of the contract.

Is solar still worth it in 2026?

Yes, for most homes with a good roof. SMART 3.0, RRES and net metering are all active, and leases and PPAs still get a lower rate because those systems qualify for the 30% federal credit. Rhode Island's grant runs in rounds: the last 2026 round closes about October 16, and the 2027 rounds hadn't been announced as of October 15, 2026. Systems that begin construction after July 4, 2026 must be in service by December 31, 2027 to qualify, so timing matters for those plans.

The change from 2025 affects one group: homeowners paying cash or using a loan. The federal homeowner tax credit ended for systems installed after December 31, 2025, so owners now rely on state programs instead, and many find a lease or PPA comes out ahead. If you're comparing, ask for every option priced on the same system. We answer the question state by state for Connecticut and Rhode Island.

Solar is a weaker fit in a few situations: a roof shaded by tall trees for most of the day, a home that uses very little electricity, or a roof that faces mostly north. If you might move within a couple of years, raise it when you compare options: owned systems add value at sale, and buyers can often take over a lease or PPA if they qualify.

Does solar raise your home's value?

Owned solar can raise a home's value by an average of 4.1%. Buyers see lower electric bills and documented production, and in Massachusetts the system adds no property tax for 20 years.

Leased and PPA systems are different: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage guidelines don't count them in the appraised value, because the company owns the panels. The buyer can often take over the contract, if they qualify. Our guide to solar and home value goes deeper, and selling a house with solar panels covers each ownership type.

What does solar cost after it's installed?

Very little. Panels have no moving parts, and New England rain and snow do most of the cleaning. Plan for:

• Monitoring. An app shows what your system produces, so a problem shows up quickly.
• Inverters. Microinverters and string inverters carry their own warranties, often shorter than the panels'.
• Your roof. If your current roof is near the end of its life, replacing it before the panels go on avoids paying to remove and reinstall them later.
• Insurance. Ask your insurer how your policy covers rooftop panels, and tell them when they go on.

With a lease or PPA, the company that owns the system handles maintenance and repairs, so maintenance and repairs aren't on your budget.

How do you find out what solar would cost for your home?

An online average can't tell you what your home would pay, because it doesn't know your roof, your usage or your utility. Three steps get you a real number:

1. Check your roof. Our free Solar Fit scan shows your roof's sun exposure and a preliminary design in about a minute.
2. Share a recent electric bill. It tells us how big a system you need and what you pay the utility now.
3. Compare every way to pay. We price cash, loan, lease, PPA and prepaid PPA on the same design, side by side, so you can see the monthly cost and long-term savings of each.

If your solar quote isn't lower than your average electric bill, our Day One Savings Guarantee means we'll contact you and offer to cancel your consultation (solar-only projects). Massachusetts homeowners can also read whether solar makes sense in Massachusetts, and our state pages for Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island list every incentive that applies.

Frequently asked questions