Net Metering: How Your Solar Home Becomes Its Own Power Plant

Sponsored By Brooklyn SolarWorks

Brooklyn SolarWorks is a Gowanus-based solar design and installation firm serving New York City's homes and businesses.

Created By Brownstoner

Thinking of adopting solar for your home? Think of it this way: Your solar-equipped home will be a mini power station — a scaled-down Con Edison. Through net metering, your home doesn’t just consume energy – it generates, stores, and trades it. Here’s how this ingenious system works and why timing matters more than ever.

The Power Exchange
During sunny days, your solar panels often produce more energy than needed. Instead of letting this excess go to waste, net metering allows you to feed it back into the grid. Think of it as depositing energy into a virtual bank account. When your panels produce less (like during cloudy days or at night), you withdraw from these credits.

Let’s break it down: If your system generates 1,000 kilowatt hours in a month but only uses 500 kWh, you bank those extra 500 kWh with Con Ed. Next month, if you need 1,500 kWh but only generate 1,000 kWh, you can use your banked credits to cover the difference – at no additional cost.

“We’re a generation station,” said Trevor S., who had solar installed on his Prospect Lefferts Garden home in 2018. “So right now our net give to the whole network is 28 megawatt-hours, that’s about three years worth of electricity.”

Why Act Now?
The solar landscape is evolving rapidly in New York. While we still enjoy a favorable 1-to-1 exchange rate for energy credits, several factors make immediate action worthwhile:

• Con Ed has proposed an 11.4 percent rate increase for 2026
• The NYSERDA rebate has recently decreased from $0.20 to $0.15 per kW, and funding for this block is extremely limited
• Federal Tax Credit programs face uncertain futures

As utility rates rise, the value of your solar-generated power increases proportionally. However, net metering programs through the New York Public Service Commission and Con Edison continue to evolve, potentially affecting future benefits.

In short, today’s favorable conditions present an optimal time to maximize returns. The sooner you switch, the more you stand to gain from current incentives and rate structures.

Contact Brooklyn SolarWorks today.

[Photos via Brooklyn SolarWorks]