Massachusetts doesn’t look like a solar state. Boston averages 4.2 peak sun hours per day. Winters are gray, springs are rainy, and the latitude puts you firmly in the Northeast’s reduced-sun territory.
And yet Massachusetts consistently ranks in the top 10 states for residential solar installations per capita. The reason isn’t the weather — it’s a policy environment that makes Massachusetts solar economics legitimately compelling, even with fewer sun hours than the Sun Belt.
The SREC II and SMART Program: Massachusetts’ Signature Incentive
Massachusetts runs a production incentive program called SMART (Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target) that pays solar owners a fixed rate per kilowatt-hour produced — on top of whatever electricity savings they generate through net metering. The SMART rate is set at program enrollment and guaranteed for 10 years.
Current SMART base rates vary by utility territory and system size, but residential rates in the range of $0.05–$0.10/kWh additional payment per kWh produced are typical when the program has funding. On a 7kW system producing 8,000 kWh per year, that’s $400–$800 per year in additional income for 10 years — $4,000–$8,000 in total that has nothing to do with electricity bill savings.
SMART has enrollment caps by utility territory. Eversource and National Grid territories fill at different rates. Check the current availability at mass.gov/solar before signing anything — if a territory is full, you go on a waitlist that may take months to clear.
Massachusetts Net Metering
Massachusetts net metering is among the more favorable in the Northeast. The state requires utilities to credit excess solar generation at full retail rate, with monthly carry-forward. Annual reconciliation of remaining credits is at a reduced rate — but the monthly roll-forward means summer production efficiently offsets winter consumption.
One important nuance: Massachusetts has net metering “caps” by utility — once a utility reaches a certain percentage of peak load from net metering customers, new applications may face delays or reduced credit rates. Net metering policy in Massachusetts has been politically contentious and worth verifying current status with your installer before assuming full retail applies.
The Property Tax Exemption
Massachusetts exempts solar installations from local property tax assessment for 20 years. On a Boston-area home where property tax rates run $10–$15 per $1,000 of assessed value, a $15,000 solar value-add generates $150–$225 per year in avoided property taxes — $3,000–$4,500 over 20 years.
The Massachusetts Numbers
For a Boston-area homeowner on Eversource:
- System: 7kW
- Annual production: ~8,400 kWh
- Eversource rate: ~$0.22/kWh blended (one of the highest in the country)
- Annual electricity savings: ~$1,848
- SMART production incentive: ~$588/year (at $0.07/kWh, 10-year guarantee)
- Total annual benefit: ~$2,436
- Gross system cost: $21,000
- Net after 30% ITC: $14,700
- Estimated payback: approximately 6.0 years
That’s faster payback than Austin — driven by Massachusetts’ high electricity rates ($0.22/kWh versus Texas’ $0.13/kWh) and the SMART production incentive. High electricity rates are the single biggest driver of solar returns — and Massachusetts has some of the highest in the nation.
What Massachusetts Gets Right
The combination of a stable production incentive, high baseline electricity rates, strong net metering, and property tax protection makes Massachusetts solar economics work despite modest sun resources. The state has consistently supported solar policy across administrations in a way that many Sunbelt states haven’t.
The catch is program complexity — SMART enrollment, net metering caps, and utility-specific rules require more homework than a simpler state. Find an installer who knows the Massachusetts program well. The difference between an installer who can navigate SMART enrollment efficiently and one who can’t is real time and real money.
— Allen
