Solar News & Information

What Massachusetts residents should know about solar for homes in 2023

December 16, 2022

Thanks to some of the best state incentives in the U.S., Massachusetts homeowners and businesses have installed over 4 gigawatts of solar energy capacity to date. Rapdily increasing electricity costs on top of these valuable incentives make going solar an even easier financial decision for most people. As we look forward into 2023, the signs are that more economic relief will be needed. And solar could provide homeowners with a great option for significant annual savings.

So, here is a refresher on going solar in Massachusetts with the latest information and data updated.

Solar Energy is Popular in Massachusetts

According to outlets which track energy demand and offer utility options, Massachusetts is among the top 10 states with the highest electricity bills. The average November residential electric bill for ratepayers in the state was $160.49, or about $1,926 per year. Projections are that electricity rates in the state are could increase between 43% and 64% this winter. Investing in a solar energy system will not only immediately lower your electricity bills, but it will also shield you from Eversource and NationalGrid price swings.

Both Massachusetts and federal incentives along with historically low hardware costs make solar power more affordable than ever. For more than a decade, the solar panel costing trend has seen prices drop nearly 70%. Even with recent global economic pressures, a solar energy system in Bay State can still pay for itself in 4 or 5 years and offer decades more savings.

Solar Panel Costs in Massachusetts

It is difficult to assign a single or average value of the solar costs for just one home. There are many factors including the design of each roof including slope, the condition of the existing roof, the power needs for the family, and the best fit design to maximize your savings with all of these factors included. For example, certain homes may not have a large amount of free roof space which may require the highest performing solar panels, densely packed, in order to deliver the best results. While other homes may provide the designer with options of a range of solar panels because of excess free space.

However, thanks to the efforts from the Berkeley Labs routine study – Tracking the Sun – we can take a snapshot of a large aggregate of solar power costs in Massachusetts and compare it to the U.S. average. This covers the full spectrum of homes, needs, and the wide range of solar component quality and costs. The good news is that average homeowner in the state tends to get more bang for the buck. Larger systems at lower unit costs go a long way towards helping the Bay State become so popular for solarizing homes.

Area	Avg System Size	Avg System Price	Avg Total System Price
Massachusetts	8.1 kW	$3.51 per Watt	$28,504
U.S.	6.5 kW	$3.82 per Watt	$24,742

Federal and Massachusetts Solar Energy Incentives for 2023

Massachusetts compares favorably with the rest of the country in large part because of how you can lower your total costs with federal tax credits and state-based incentives. The federal Residential Clean Energy Credit (formerly named the Investment Tax Credit) lets you subtract 30% of the cost of a solar system from your federal tax returns after your solar energy system is installed.

If the average cost per Berkeley Lab is $28,504, this means on average a buyer will pay $8,551.20 less for an approximately 11kW solar system installed in Massachusetts after using the federal credit. The Inflation Reduction Act, a federal climate bill passed in August 2022, locks this incentive in for years to come.

The Solar MAssachusetts Renewable Target (SMART) program pays customers of Eversource, National Grid and Unitil a fixed rate per kilowatt-hour for the electricity produced by residential solar panels. The fixed rate is set once the system is installed, and the amount of that fixed rate depends on the application timing. It is designed to decrease in time, so those who apply earlier will lock in the best rates.

By combining SMART and federal incentives, Massachusetts remains one of the best places in the country to add a solar energy to your home.

You can learn more about overall incentives by visiting our Residential Solar Incentives page.

We also encourage you to download our free and simple brochure explaining how the SMART program works for you.