Your solar buyback rate is the value your utility or retail electricity plan gives exported electricity. It may differ from the price you pay to import power. Check your own plan, effective dates and billing rules rather than assuming every solar kWh earns the retail rate.
This guide explains how to read a tariff; it is not a live directory of providers or current plan rates. Use the self-consumption and export savings calculator with verified values from your plan.
Reviewed October 17, 2026. USD examples are hypothetical and use a simplified annual calculation.
Find the rules that apply to your account
- Identify the utility and, if different, retail supplier on your electric bill.
- Find the official tariff or export-plan document for your service territory and customer class. A sales summary is not the complete agreement.
- Check whether your interconnection date or existing agreement qualifies for different rules.
- Record import and export prices, when they apply and the document’s effective date.
- Check fixed charges, minimum bills, export caps, settlement periods, credit expiration and cash-out rules.
- Ask whether a plan change, storage installation or system expansion changes eligibility.
Save the relevant tariff and ask the provider to explain unclear terms in writing. Do not assume an export credit can offset every line of your bill or that unused credits are paid in cash.
Separate electricity used at home from exports
Self-consumed solar can avoid eligible import charges. Exported solar receives whatever credit the tariff allows. A simple annual scenario is:
Bill reduction ≈ self-used kWh × avoided import rate + exported kWh × usable export credit − increase in fixed charges.
This approximation is insufficient for detailed time-of-use, minimum-bill or interval-based settlement. Fixed charges that are unchanged before and after solar are not an extra cost to deduct again from the bill reduction.
One system, three hypothetical export rates
Assume 10,000 kWh production, 70% self-consumption, $0.18/kWh avoided imports, unchanged fixed charges and fully usable credits:
- At $0.18/kWh exports: $1,260 self-use + $540 export = $1,800/year.
- At $0.06/kWh exports: $1,260 + $180 = $1,440/year.
- At $0.02/kWh exports: $1,260 + $60 = $1,320/year.
For an $18,000 cash project with no verified incentive and $100 annual upkeep, those scenarios imply simple cash payback of about 10.6, 13.4 and 14.8 years. These are sensitivities, not available utility offers or forecasts.
Net metering, net billing and buyback plans
These labels do not establish a universal rate or settlement method. Traditional net metering may offset imported energy with exports under specified rules; net billing may value imports and exports separately. Retail buyback plans can add contract-specific conditions. Read the actual tariff rather than choosing from the label alone.
The Department of Energy homeowner guide provides background on utility arrangements. Our net metering versus net billing guide explains the distinction; it does not replace your current provider document.
Check system size and battery claims
Low export credits can make surplus production less valuable. That does not automatically justify buying a battery or maximizing self-consumption at any price. Compare the battery’s additional bill benefit with its additional cost, charging losses and export credits you would otherwise receive.
Review production with the kWh planning calculator or a roof-specific PVWatts estimate, then calculate supported bill savings. The kWh tool does not retrieve a utility tariff.
Use the verified saving in your next decision
Enter annual bill reduction, full cost and upkeep in the cash ROI calculator. Normalize actual installer offers in the quote comparison tool. Check assumptions again when a quote or tariff changes; no future rate or savings increase is guaranteed.
