Delaware pays solar buyers with a one-time grant, not a tax credit. Which grant you can get depends on the name on your electric bill. Delmarva Power homes apply to a state program. Delaware Electric Cooperative members apply to a different one with a lower limit. Either way, you give up your system’s solar certificates to get the money, and the approval has to come before the panels go up.
Recently changed: the current Delmarva Power grant amounts took effect on July 1, 2026. The co-op grant limit rose from $2,000 to $5,000 for applications finished on or after July 1, 2026. The battery rebate opened on August 11, 2026.
Delmarva Power, the co-op or a town: who sends your Delaware bill?
The name at the top of your electric bill decides which grant program you can use.
Delmarva PowerDelivers power to about 64% of Delaware homes.Typical system after the grant: $15,678
What you can get with Delmarva Power
- State solar grant (Green Energy Program)$6,240
For a typical 7.8 kW system at $0.80 per watt. The limit is $10,000, and never more than 50% of the project cost. Example: a 5 kW system gets $4,000. The state pays you after your final forms are approved, typically within 10 to 12 weeks.
- Battery rebate (Solar + Storage Pilot)$250 per kWh
Up to $6,000, and never more than 50% of the battery cost. Example: a battery that holds 10 kWh gets $2,500. You must own the battery, and it must be able to power your home in an outage. It goes in with new solar, or is added to solar that was approved to connect within the last 12 months and approved for the solar grant. It is a pilot with no posted budget or end date.
A typical Delmarva Power home: from price to what you pay
7.8 kW system that you own, no battery
Your bill credits
Extra power from your panels goes to the grid. Delmarva Power counts it in kWh and takes it off a later bill. This is called net metering.
Your bill has two main parts: supply (the power itself) and delivery (the wires). Since January 1, 2024, each credit is worth the per-kWh part of both. Credits do not lower the fixed monthly customer charge.
State law now says unused credits carry into the next year. Delmarva Power has until December 1, 2026 to update its billing.
Watch out: The battery rebate has a string attached. Once Delmarva Power offers a program that draws on home batteries, yours must join it for 10 years. Ask Delmarva whether that program has started.
Also for you: grant or SRECs, the application steps and help for lower incomes.
Delaware Electric CooperativeServes about 22% of Delaware homes.Typical system after the grant: $16,918
What you can get with Delaware Electric Cooperative
- Co-op solar grant (Solar Grant Delaware)$5,000
The rate is $0.70 per watt, up to $5,000 per address and never more than 50% of the project cost. A typical 7.8 kW system works out to $5,460, so it gets the limit. Example: a 5 kW system gets $3,500. Energize Delaware, the program’s sponsor, pays it once. Money is first come, first served.
- Battery rebateNot offered
The state battery rebate is for Delmarva Power customers only.
A typical co-op home: from price to what you pay
7.8 kW system that you own, grant at its limit
Your bill credits
The co-op uses net metering: extra power you send to the grid is counted in kWh and taken off a later bill. Each credit is worth the per-kWh part of the co-op’s supply and delivery charges, not the fixed monthly charge.
The co-op’s published rules still say unused credits are lost at the end of each yearly billing period. State law requires a carry-over, with billing updated by December 1, 2026. Ask the co-op whether it has made the change.
Watch out: The co-op says parts of its territory are closed to new solar that sends power to the grid, and other parts allow only systems that send nothing out. Check the map on its solar page before you sign. Net metering is also not available on a time-of-use plan, where the price of power changes by the hour.
Also for you: grant or SRECs, the application steps and help for lower incomes.
Dover, Newark or another town utilityClayton, Dover, Lewes, Middletown, Milford, New Castle, Newark, Seaford and Smyrna run their own electric utilities. Together they serve about 13% of Delaware homes.A grant in Newark only, with a waiting list
What you can get with Dover, Newark or another town utility
- Newark solar grantUp to $3,500
$1.00 per watt for the first 5 kW and $0.50 per watt above that. Example: a 5 kW system gets $3,500, the limit. Money is short. Applicants sign a letter that accepts a delayed payment, and the form warns the wait can be long. Call the Delaware Municipal Electric Corporation, which runs the program, before you install.
- Dover and the other townsNo grant found
The City of Dover says it does not provide any solar incentive programs at the moment. For the other towns, the municipal program publishes an application for Newark only. Ask your town’s electric office in writing. The state battery rebate is not open to town utility customers.
Your bill credits
State law gives town utilities the same basic rules. Extra power you send to the grid is taken off a later bill, which is called net metering. A home system can be up to 25 kW. Unused credits must carry over, with billing updated by December 1, 2026.
Dover credits extra power at the city’s current per-kWh rate. Its solar page still said credits are reset to zero once a year when we checked. A new solar customer pays up to $200 for the two-way meter.
Watch out: Dover says some parts of the city can take only a limited amount of solar. It handles applications in the order they arrive.
Also for you: grant or SRECs, the application steps and help for lower incomes.
Why does a Delaware solar grant cost you your SRECs?
An SREC (solar renewable energy credit) is a certificate. Your system earns one for every 1,000 kWh it makes. Delaware’s clean-power law creates buyers for them, so they have a cash value. A typical 7.8 kW system makes about 10,930 kWh a year, which is about 11 SRECs a year.
Both grant programs take those certificates as the price of the grant. After that, you cannot sell them anywhere else.
If you skip the grant, you keep your SRECs. The main way to sell them is SREC Delaware, a yearly auction run for Delmarva Power. You name a price per SREC, and the lowest bids win a 25-year contract.
| Route | What you get | When it arrives | What you give up |
|---|---|---|---|
| Delmarva Power grant | $6,240 for a typical system | One payment, after your final forms are approved | All of the system’s SRECs |
| Co-op grant | $5,000 for a typical system | One payment, after the second part of your application | All of the system’s SRECs |
| SREC auction, no grant | Your bid price per SREC for 10 years, then $10 per SREC. Last round, new Delaware systems won at $32.00 to $42.89 | Over a 25-year contract, only if your bid wins | The grant |
Example: 10 SRECs at the last round’s average winning price of $39.39 earn $393.90 in a year.
Watch out: The auction is not always open. The last bid window ran November 3 to 14, 2025, and no new one had been announced when we checked. That round counted a system as new only if it was approved to run on or after November 15, 2024. Co-op members: since January 1, 2025, a system under an SREC contract cannot get the co-op grant.
Audit, pre-approval, install, final forms: the order that keeps a Delaware grant
These steps follow the Delmarva Power program, with the co-op’s differences noted.
- Get a home energy audit and pick a listed contractor. The state rejects a Delmarva Power application with no acceptable energy audit. A system put in by a contractor outside the program’s list cannot receive the grant.You, with a certified energy auditor.
- Apply for pre-approval before the panels go up. The application needs a project estimate, proposal or purchase order, a recent electric bill and a shade report. The report must show at least 70% of the sunlight an ideal, unshaded roof would get. Pre-approval holds your money for 6 months. In the co-op program, Part One does this job.You or your contractor, online.
- Your installer asks the utility for permission to connect. This is the interconnection application. The utility then fits a two-way meter. A homeowner pays no more than $200 toward it.Your installer.
- Install as approved, then send the final forms. They include the final invoice, the utility’s approval to connect and the SREC Transfer Agreement. The Delmarva Power program refuses applications made more than 12 months after the installation was finished. Co-op members must send Part Two within six months of Part One being verified.You or your contractor.
- Register to be paid. The state pays Delmarva Power grants only to people registered as an eSupplier with Delaware’s Division of Accounting. Payment typically follows within 10 to 12 weeks of final approval.You.
Get Delaware quotes before you apply for a grant
The grant application needs a project estimate. Your ZIP code starts a quote request with installers in your area.
- An estimate comes firstBoth grant programs ask for one with the first application.
- Ask about the contractor listA grant is paid only for work by an approved contractor.
- No cost to compareRequesting quotes is free.
How do Delaware bill credits for extra solar power work?
One state law, 26 Del. C. § 1014, sets net metering for every Delaware utility: the power you send to the grid is counted and taken off your bill.
Credits are kept in kWh, not dollars. Example: in June your panels send out 100 kWh more than you take in. In July you take in 100 kWh more than you send out. The June credit covers July.
A home system can be up to 25 kW, sized to make no more than 110% of the home’s average use over the last two years.
- What changed: a law approved on July 16, 2025 ended the loss of unused credits at the end of each yearly billing period. Utilities have until December 1, 2026 to change their billing.
Delaware options for lower incomes, renters and buyers who need a loan
- Free or reduced-cost solar, with any utility: the state’s Low- to Moderate-Income Solar Pilot Program gives a low-income homeowner, at or below 200% of the federal poverty level, a system of up to 4.0 kW at no cost. You apply through the Weatherization Assistance Program. A moderate-income homeowner gets a system of up to 6.0 kW: the program pays 70% and you pay 30%. Income limits differ by county and household size, and the state posts them on the program page.
- Community solar, for Delmarva Power customers: you subscribe to a share of a large solar project somewhere else, get a credit on your bill and pay the project a fee. Renters can join. A project approved to operate on or after September 3, 2026 must leave you at least 10% better off after all fees, or 20% if you qualify by income. You can cancel within 3 business days of signing.
- The Energize Delaware solar loan: $5,000 to $50,000 at 3.9% interest for up to 15 years, for a system you own on a single-family home or duplex. A loan is not a saving: you pay it back with interest.
Watch out: The co-op’s “Co-op Community Solar” is a different thing. It adds $10 a month to your bill and does not lower it.
Does Delaware tax solar panels or the grant?
Delaware gives no tax credit for solar. Two tax rules still help.
- Sales tax: Delaware has no state or local sales tax, so none is added to a solar system.
- Tax on the Delmarva Power grant: state law, 29 Del. C. § 8057(f), exempts incentives from the Green Energy Fund from state, county and city taxes. That is the fund behind the Delmarva Power grant. The law is about that fund only. Ask a tax professional how federal tax treats the grant, and how the co-op and Newark grants are taxed.
- State income tax credit: the Delaware Division of Revenue’s list of tax credits has no credit for home solar.
- Federal tax credit: it ended for home systems finished after December 31, 2025.
- Property tax: Delaware property tax is set by your county. Ask your county assessment office how it values a home with solar panels.
When a Delaware grant will not reach you
- You lease the system or sign a PPA. The Delmarva Power program lists no incentive for leased or PPA systems. The co-op grant is for systems the customer owns.
- The panels went up before pre-approval. The Delmarva Power program says to install after your pre-approval is verified. A signed estimate or purchase order is not the problem: the application asks for one.
- Your project costs too much or your roof is too shaded. The Delmarva Power program refuses a project above $6.00 per watt or a shade report under 70%. The co-op program sets the same limits ($6.00 per watt and 70%).
- Your quote counts both the grant and SREC income. You cannot have both. A grant takes all of the system’s SRECs.
Compare Delaware quotes that name your grant program
Enter your ZIP code to request quotes from installers in your area. Ask each one which grant it applied.
The form asks about your home first, then your contact details. EcoGen or its installer partners may contact you.
- Free to requestYour ZIP code starts a quote request.
- Contact details lastQuestions about your home come first.
- Test each quoteIt should show your utility, the grant amount and who keeps the SRECs.
More Delaware solar guides
Delaware solar incentive questions
Does Delaware Have a Solar Tax Credit?
No. The Delaware Division of Revenue’s list of tax credits has no credit for home solar, and the federal credit ended for systems finished after December 31, 2025. Delaware pays grants instead.
How Much Is the Delaware Solar Grant in 2026?
For Delmarva Power customers it is $0.80 per watt, up to $10,000 and never more than 50% of the project cost. A system of 12.5 kW reaches the limit. Delaware Electric Cooperative members get $0.70 per watt, up to $5,000.
Can I Get a Delaware Solar Grant and Still Sell My SRECs?
No. Both grant programs require you to sign the system’s SRECs over. If you skip the grant, you can bid them in the yearly SREC Delaware auction, where new Delaware systems last won at $32.00 to $42.89 per SREC.
Does Delaware Have Net Metering?
Yes, with every utility, under 26 Del. C. § 1014. Extra power is credited in kWh against later bills for home systems up to 25 kW. Unused credits now carry into the next year by law, and utilities have until December 1, 2026 to update their billing.
Is There a Battery Rebate in Delaware?
Yes, for Delmarva Power customers only. The Solar + Storage Pilot pays $250 per kWh, up to $6,000 and never more than 50% of the battery cost. You must own the battery, and it has to go with solar that is in the state grant program.
Sources (22)
- DNREC, Green Energy Program Incentives, effective July 1, 2026 (checked September 30, 2026): dnrec.delaware.gov
- DNREC, Green Energy Program page (checked September 30, 2026): dnrec.delaware.gov
- DNREC, Green Energy Program Instructions (checked September 30, 2026): dnrec.delaware.gov
- DNREC, Solar + Storage Pilot Program Guidelines and Incentives, effective August 11, 2026 (checked September 30, 2026): dnrec.delaware.gov
- DNREC, Low- to Moderate-Income Solar Pilot Program (checked September 30, 2026): dnrec.delaware.gov
- Solar Grant Delaware, incentive notice effective July 1, 2026 (checked September 30, 2026): solargrantdelaware.com
- Solar Grant Delaware, Application Process (checked September 30, 2026): solargrantdelaware.com
- Delaware Electric Cooperative, tariff revised June 2026, Schedule NEM (checked September 29, 2026): delaware.coop
- Delaware Electric Cooperative, Solar Interconnections (checked September 29, 2026): delaware.coop
- Delaware Municipal Electric Corporation, Newark photovoltaic grant application (checked September 30, 2026): demecinc.net
- Delaware Municipal Electric Corporation, Municipal Green Energy Program Checklist (checked September 30, 2026): demecinc.net
- City of Dover Electric Department, Solar (checked September 30, 2026): cityofdover.gov
- Delaware Code, Title 26, Chapter 10, § 1014 and § 1022, net metering and community solar (checked September 30, 2026): delcode.delaware.gov
- Laws of Delaware, Volume 85, Chapter 83, Senate Bill 175, net metering credit carry-over (checked September 30, 2026): legis.delaware.gov
- SREC Delaware, 2025 Procurement and results (checked September 30, 2026): srecdelaware.com
- Delaware Public Service Commission, Community Solar (checked September 30, 2026): depsc.delaware.gov
- Energize Delaware, Residential Solar Loan Program (checked September 30, 2026): energizedelaware.org
- Delaware Code, Title 29, § 8057, Green Energy Fund (checked September 30, 2026): delcode.delaware.gov
- Delaware Division of Revenue, Gross Receipts Taxes (checked September 30, 2026): revenue.delaware.gov
- Delaware Division of Revenue, Delaware Tax Credit Schedule (checked September 30, 2026): revenue.delaware.gov
- IRS, Residential Clean Energy Credit (checked September 30, 2026): irs.gov
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-861, 2024 data, Sales to Ultimate Customers (checked September 30, 2026): eia.gov
