Net Metering in Delaware: Credits, Caps, and Interconnection

Net metering in Delaware lets you earn kilowatt-hour credits on your electric bill for surplus power your renewable energy system sends to the grid. Every utility in the state — Delmarva Power, the Delaware Electric Cooperative (DEC), and the municipal electric companies — is required to offer it under 26 Del.C. § 1014, with the Delaware Public Service Commission (PSC) directly regulating Delmarva’s program through 26 DE Admin. Code 3012.¹

Who Can Participate

You need an eligible renewable system on your property, connected to your utility’s distribution lines. The statute recognizes solar, wind, hydroelectric, fuel cells, and gas produced from anaerobic digestion of organic material.¹ Equipment must meet National Electrical Code, IEEE, and UL standards, including UL 1741 certification on the inverter so the system disconnects from the grid within two seconds during an outage.

System size caps depend on who you are and who serves you:

Residential customers can install up to 25 kW on any utility.
Farm customers are capped at 150 kW, and DNREC can grant case-by-case waivers for larger systems when farm energy needs justify it.
Non-residential customers can go up to 2 MW per Delmarva meter, but only 500 kW per DEC or municipal meter. DEC and municipal utilities are encouraged, not required, to allow up to 2 MW.

Whatever your category, your system must be sized to produce no more than 110% of your expected annual electricity use.² This is a self-consumption program, not a commercial generation program.

What Your Credits Are Worth

When your system produces more than you use in a billing period, the surplus flows to the grid and your utility records it as an Excess kWh Credit that rolls to your next bill.¹ That monthly rollover is what lets a summer surplus cover a winter shortfall.

Since January 1, 2024, each excess kWh credit is valued at the sum of the volumetric (per-kWh) supply and distribution charges on your rate schedule. Credits do not include societal benefits charges, and they can’t offset the flat monthly customer charge — that fixed fee shows up no matter how much your panels produce.² Practically, you’re earning close to the full retail rate for each surplus kilowatt-hour.

What Happens to Credits You Don’t Use by Year-End

Your utility tracks credits over a 12-month annualized billing period that starts the first full month after your system begins generating. What happens to a credit balance at the end of that period is currently unsettled in Delaware. The statute at 26 Del.C. § 1014 says excess credits “shall carry over to subsequent annualized billing periods.”¹ The PSC’s regulation for Delmarva customers (26 DE Admin. Code 3012, section 2.4.2) still says unused credits revert to the utility with no compensation at the end of the annual period.³

Delaware utilities do not cut you a check for leftover power. The surplus either carries forward under the statute or is forfeited under the current regulation, depending on which authority applies to your situation. Confirm the current treatment with your utility before you finalize system size, and aim for a system that produces close to 100% of your annual usage rather than well over it.

Meter Costs

Your utility installs a bidirectional meter that records both the power you pull from the grid and the power you push back. Residential customers pay no more than $200 toward a new or replacement meter needed for net metering. Non-residential customers are on the hook for the full reasonable cost of the metering equipment.¹

Getting Interconnected

Credits don’t start until your utility has approved interconnection. The sequence runs roughly like this:

Pull together your utility account number, the service address, and equipment specs — manufacturer and model for panels and inverter, plus the UL 1741 certification.
Your installer typically prepares and submits the application package. DEC, for example, requires the installer and customer to collaborate on the submission.⁴
The utility’s engineers review whether your section of the grid can absorb the generation your system will export.
A qualified installer completes the physical work, and a local electrical inspector signs off.
Once the utility has the passed inspection, it issues permission to operate and sets the bidirectional meter.

One live constraint worth knowing before you shop: parts of DEC’s territory are closed to new net-metered solar because so much generation is already connected that the cooperative cannot safely accept more.⁴ Ask about capacity in your specific area early.

The Statewide Cap

Delaware doesn’t guarantee open enrollment forever. If total net-metered capacity on a utility’s system exceeds 8% of that utility’s average Delaware transmission peak demand over the prior three years, the utility can stop accepting new net metering customers.⁵ Combined with DEC’s localized limits, this is reason enough to confirm your utility still has room before signing a contract.

If You Can’t Put Panels on Your Own Roof

Renters, shaded homes, and condo residents can still participate through community solar, which lets multiple subscribers share the output of an off-site facility. Credits appear on your Delmarva bill at the retail rate.

Each community solar project is capped at 4 MW nameplate capacity.⁶
Your subscription cost can’t exceed 90% of the bill credit you receive, so a minimum 10% savings is built into the rules.⁶
Your subscription can’t credit you for more than 110% of your expected annual electricity use.
Each facility must reserve at least 15% of its capacity for low-income subscribers.

Vehicle-to-Grid Credits

If you own a grid-integrated electric vehicle with vehicle-to-grid (V2G) capability, energy your car discharges back to the grid earns credits at the same rate you paid to charge it, and any surplus is treated like solar or wind credits.¹ A parked EV effectively becomes a battery that can offset bill charges during peak hours.

What Else Can Lower the Cost

Federal Residential Clean Energy Credit

The Inflation Reduction Act extended the federal Residential Clean Energy Credit (Section 25D) at 30% of eligible installation costs, with a phase-down beginning in 2033.⁷ Eligible costs include panels, inverters, mounting hardware, and installation labor, with no dollar cap. You claim it on your federal return for the year the system is placed in service, and any unused credit can carry to future tax years. Guidance has been updated repeatedly, so confirm eligibility directly with the IRS before budgeting around it.

Solar Renewable Energy Credits

Delaware homeowners with net-metered solar can also sell Solar Renewable Energy Credits (SRECs), each representing one megawatt-hour of solar generation. Delmarva Power buys SRECs through the SREC Delaware procurement program to meet state renewable energy requirements.⁸ You bid during a short annual procurement window of about two weeks and keep monthly meter readings current throughout the year. The 2025 procurement produced a weighted average price of about $32.69 per SREC.⁹

Property Tax

Delaware does not tax personal property, and solar photovoltaic equipment is classified as personal property under state law. Installing panels will not raise your property tax assessment.

1
Delaware Code Online. Delaware Code Title 26 Chapter 10
2
Delaware Regulations. 26 DE Admin. Code 3012 – Rules for Regulation of Net Metering
3
Delaware Regulations. 26 DE Admin. Code 3012 – Rules for Regulation of Net Metering
4
Delaware Electric Cooperative. Solar Interconnections
5
Delaware Regulations. 26 DE Admin. Code 3012 – Rules for Regulation of Net Metering
6
Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency. Delaware – Community Solar Rules
7
Internal Revenue Service. Residential Clean Energy Credit
8
SREC Delaware. SREC Delaware Program
9
Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency. SREC Procurement Program