Most states are in the middle of taking something away. Arkansas closed its grandfather window in 2024, Kentucky replaced retail netting with dollar credits, Hawaii has closed three export programs in a decade. Delaware has done none of that. One-to-one netting at full retail value, surplus that carries forward month to month, and no successor tariff and no closing deadline pending. In 2026 that absence of drama is the most valuable thing Delaware offers a solar buyer, and it is worth understanding precisely, because stability is only an incentive if you know what is stable.
What Delaware Actually Credits You
Every Delaware program and its standing this year:
Program | What you get | Status in 2026 |
|---|---|---|
Net metering | Full retail 1-to-1 crediting, residential systems up to 25 kW (26 Del. C. section 1014) | Active, no end date pending |
Green Energy Program grants | Per-utility grants in budgeted cycles; pre-approval required | Active; confirm the current cycle’s terms with your utility |
SRECs | Solar renewable energy certificates sold under the state renewable portfolio standard’s solar carve-out | Active, market-priced |
Federal 25D credit | $0 for purchases whose installation is completed after December 31, 2025 | Ended |
Third-party ownership | Leases and PPAs authorized; the 48E business credit reaches rooftops only through the third-party owner | Active |
Net metering sits in statute at 26 Del. C. section 1014 and covers Delmarva Power, the Delaware Electric Cooperative and the municipal utilities. Residential systems are eligible up to 25 kW, netting is monthly and one-to-one, and any excess kilowatt-hours carry forward rather than being cashed out at a lower rate.
The detail that matters is what “full retail” means on a Delmarva bill. Since January 1, 2024, the monthly excess credit has been valued at the volumetric supply plus distribution charges, excluding societal-benefit charges. In practice that is effectively the full volumetric retail rate, which is a stronger position than the energy-only crediting several states use. Against a 16.75¢ retail price, that makes an exported kilowatt-hour worth close to a purchased one.
Delmarva serves about 64% of Delaware households and the Delaware Electric Cooperative about 24%, with Dover and Newark municipals covering most of the rest. The cooperative and the municipals set their own credit specifics under the same statute, so confirm yours rather than assuming the Delmarva valuation applies.
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Grants Instead of a Tax Credit
Delaware has no state income tax credit for residential solar. What it has historically had instead is grant funding through the Green Energy Program, administered per utility rather than statewide, which is a different animal from a tax credit in three ways that matter to a buyer.
- Grant funds are budgeted, so they run out. A tax credit is available to everyone who qualifies; a grant pool is available until it is exhausted for that cycle.
- Terms are set per utility, not statewide. What a Delmarva customer can apply for is not automatically what a cooperative or municipal customer can.
- Application timing is part of the product. Grant programs generally require approval before work begins, so signing an installation contract first can disqualify you.
Award amounts are budgeted and revised by cycle. Ask your utility for the current cycle’s terms and its application deadline in writing, and confirm whether pre-approval is required, before you sign anything.
Delaware Solar Renewable Energy Certificates
Delaware runs a renewable portfolio standard with a solar carve-out, which creates a market for solar renewable energy certificates. Your system earns certificates for the power it generates and those can be sold separately from the electricity itself, so a Delaware system has two revenue lines rather than one.
Two cautions, both about how this is sold. Certificate prices are market-determined and move; nobody can promise you a price for twenty years, and a quote that assumes a flat certificate income for the life of the system is assuming something the market has never done. And in a third-party-owned arrangement the certificates usually belong to the owner rather than to you, which is one of the specific questions worth asking before signing a lease.
The Federal Credit Is Gone, and Delaware Is Unusually Well Placed
Section 25D is $0 for purchased systems whose installation is completed after December 31, 2025 under Public Law 119-21. That is a real loss and no state program replaces it. What Delaware does have, and most states do not, is a clean third-party ownership route: both leases and power purchase agreements are authorized here. Since the remaining federal commercial credit reaches residential rooftops only through third-party ownership, Delaware homeowners still have that door open where Alabama, Kansas and Kentucky homeowners do not.
That does not make a lease automatically the right answer. It means the comparison is genuinely available to you, and the questions to ask are who owns the system, who keeps the certificates, what the annual escalator is, and what happens when you sell the house.
You Likely Will Not Qualify If
- Your system would exceed 25 kW. That is the residential ceiling in the statute.
- You applied for grant funding after signing an installation contract. Pre-approval requirements are the most common reason a Delaware grant application fails.
- You are counting on the 30% federal credit. It is $0 for purchased systems whose installation is completed after December 31, 2025.
- You assumed certificate income is yours in a leased system. It usually follows ownership, so read that clause specifically.
- You are a cooperative or municipal customer applying the Delmarva credit valuation. Those utilities set their own specifics under the same statute.
What Delaware Asks of You Instead
Delaware asks less of you than most states. You do not have to race a grandfather deadline, decode a time-of-day export table or model an annually redetermined avoided cost. Exports are worth close to what imports cost, that arrangement has no announced end, and there is a certificate market on top of it.
What Delaware does ask is that you handle the grant timing properly and read the certificate clause. Those are the two places a Delaware buyer actually loses money. Our Delaware cost guide covers pricing, and the Delaware installer list covers who does the work.
Delaware Solar FAQs
Yes, one-to-one at full retail value, under 26 Del. C. section 1014. Residential systems qualify up to 25 kW, netting is monthly and excess kilowatt-hours carry forward. Since January 1, 2024 the Delmarva monthly excess credit has been valued at volumetric supply plus distribution charges, excluding societal-benefit charges, which is effectively full volumetric retail. No successor tariff or closing deadline is pending.
No state income tax credit for residential solar. Delaware has historically offered grant funding through the Green Energy Program administered per utility instead. Grants differ from credits in three ways that matter: the money is budgeted so it runs out, terms are set per utility rather than statewide, and approval is generally required before work begins.
Yes. Delaware’s renewable portfolio standard includes a solar carve-out, which creates a market for solar renewable energy certificates, so a system here has two revenue lines rather than one. Prices are market-determined and move, so treat any quote assuming flat certificate income for twenty years with caution, and check who owns the certificates in a leased system.
Yes, both are authorized. That matters more since January 1, 2026, because the federal residential credit is now $0 and third-party ownership is the only route by which the remaining federal commercial credit reaches a residential rooftop. Delaware homeowners still have that option where Alabama, Kansas and Kentucky homeowners do not.
Up to 25 kW for residential customers under 26 Del. C. section 1014. The statute covers Delmarva Power, the Delaware Electric Cooperative and the municipal utilities, though the cooperative and municipals set their own credit specifics, so confirm yours rather than assuming the Delmarva valuation applies to you.
Grant timing and the certificate clause are where Delaware buyers lose money. Enter your ZIP code and we will get you installers who handle both properly.
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References & Research Sources
EcoGen America reviewed the Delaware net metering statute, program records, federal energy data, and IRS guidance for this page. Green Energy Program award amounts and application windows are set per utility and revised by cycle; confirm current terms with your utility. Sources accessed between June 10 and August 20, 2026.
- Delaware Code. 26 Del. C. section 1014. The net metering framework, the 25 kW residential limit, monthly one-to-one netting with carry-forward, and the Delmarva monthly excess credit valuation effective January 1, 2024. Accessed August 20, 2026.
- DSIRE. Delaware net metering program record. Program-history record for the Delaware net metering framework. Accessed August 20, 2026.
- U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Form EIA-861 (2024) and Electric Power Monthly. Utility customer counts for Delmarva Power, Delaware Electric Cooperative, Dover and Newark, and residential price data. Accessed August 20, 2026.
- Internal Revenue Service (IRS). One, Big, Beautiful Bill Provisions. Guidance on the Public Law 119-21 termination of the Section 25D residential credit for systems whose installation is completed after December 31, 2025. Accessed August 20, 2026.
