Is solar worth it in Maine?
Short answer for a typical Maine home: a strong payback — roughly 7.8 years to break even after the 30% credit. Run your own bill through the calculator below.
Maine gets moderate sunshine — about 4 peak sun hours a day — and residential electricity runs around $0.23/kWh. For a typical $150-a-month power bill, that points to roughly a 6.7-kW system costing about $14,071 after the 30% federal tax credit, paying for itself in about 7.8 years and netting on the order of $47,294 over 25 years. Your own numbers will differ — the calculator above uses your real bill.
Maine surprises people: limited sun, but very high electricity rates and favorable net metering make solar pay back faster than the climate suggests. Snow load and winter production are worth planning for.
What changes the math in Maine
- Your electricity rate — the more you pay per kWh, the more each solar kWh saves you. Maine sits at about $0.23.
- Sun hours — more sun means a smaller, cheaper system covers the same usage. Maine averages ~4 hours.
- Net metering / buyback — how your utility credits power you export swings the payback; check your specific utility's current terms.
- Install cost — quotes vary by installer and roof; the calculator defaults to a typical $/watt you can override.
Put an honest calculator in front of ready-to-buy homeowners
Installers, EPCs and energy brands use SolarDime as a no-pressure first step. Homeowners get a transparent estimate; you get warmer, better-educated prospects instead of cold form-fills.
- Co-branded & embeddable — run the calculator on your own site or link out to it.
- Warmer leads — homeowners arrive educated, with a payback number already in hand.
- Affiliate & revenue-share friendly — geo-targeted referral traffic on your terms.