Solar in North Carolina: how the rules work
How North Carolina credits the power solar panels send back to the grid, what homes there pay for electricity, and what to check when a home with solar is bought or sold.
How exported power is credited
Power sent to the grid is credited at a set share of the retail rate, below what the home pays for power it buys.
New customers are on Residential Solar Choice: time-of-use netting within the month (exports first offset same-period usage at retail), with the monthly net excess credited at the avoided-cost rate plus a minimum bill and non-bypassable charges. The effective share depends on usage, so no single percentage is given. Customers who applied before Oct 1, 2023 keep legacy net metering until Oct 1, 2027, then move to the Bridge Rate for up to 15 more years; the Bridge Rate is open to new customers only with limited annual capacity through ~2026-2027 (sources differ on the exact close).
What changes for a home with solar
A savings estimate that assumes full retail credit for exported power overstates the value of that power for systems on the current rules. Power used in the home still offsets the full retail rate.
Older systems are often grandfathered on earlier, better terms for a set number of years. Which rules a particular system is on depends on its interconnection date, stated in the note above.
Electricity here costs about 14.9¢ per kWh (2026) and has risen about 2.4% a year over the last decade. A lease or PPA escalator above that pace makes the solar payment rise faster than utility rates have.
When a home with solar is sold in North Carolina
- Owned outright: proof it is paid off, the warranties, and the utility’s interconnection or net-metering agreement, which has to move into the buyer’s name.
- Loan: a payoff letter, and whether the buyer can assume the loan. Many solar loans are secured by a UCC-1 fixture filing that title will find.
- Lease or PPA: the transfer process and how long approval takes, the buyer’s credit check, the current payment or rate and its yearly increase, and a buyout quote.
- Every case: whether the export-credit terms above stay with the home after the sale, and the last 12 months of production from the monitoring app.
Have the solar contract for a North Carolina home?
Upload it and get a letter-graded report card: price, production, payment changes, value and transfer terms, measured against North Carolina’s rates and rules.
Grade a solar contractSources
- www.energync.org/blog/understanding-solar-net-metering-changes-impacting-duke-energy-custo (2024-07-15)
- Electricity prices: EIA Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.B (2026) and EIA state annual averages 2014–2024
- Installed price: EnergySage marketplace, September 2026