What Is Net Metering and How Does It Work in North Carolina?

Net metering is the policy that makes net zero energy living financially possible — and it's worth understanding exactly how it works in North Carolina. Without net metering, excess electricity your solar panels produce would simply be wasted. Net metering turns that excess production into money.

Here's the basic mechanic: your home has a two-way meter. When your solar panels produce more electricity than you're using — noon on a sunny June day — the excess flows back into the grid and your meter runs backward. Your utility credits you for that electricity. When panels aren't producing enough — evening, cloudy days, the February snowstorm — you draw from the grid and the meter runs forward. At billing time, you pay or get credited for the net difference.

In North Carolina, net metering is available through the major utilities, and the economics have generally been favorable for solar homeowners. Duke Energy and other utilities have maintained net metering programs that make the math of a net zero home work as designed. That said, utility policies evolve — confirm current rates with your specific utility before designing your system.

Our 12-month results show exactly how net metering played out. Eleven of twelve months, the grid owed us. Credits accumulated during high-production spring and summer months carried us through lower-production winter months. February 2026 — the historic snowstorm month — was the one exception at $50.45. For eleven other months: zero bills and a total of $696.41 in our favor.

Net metering is essentially a free storage system: you store excess energy in the grid during good months and retrieve it during lean ones. Combine that with a physical battery like the Tesla Powerwall for short-term storage and emergency backup, and you have a complete energy management system that costs almost nothing to operate year over year.