Net Metering in a Net Zero world

Several states have recently restored or extended full retail Net Metering for residential rooftop solar. This again raises the vigorously debated issue of whether or not Net Metering is fair to both the customers with rooftop solar and to customers without rooftop solar. Some policymakers are also advocating that new homes be “Net Zero”, meaning that over the course of the year, the amount of energy produced by a home’s solar panels needs to be at least equal to the home’s electricity demand. It turns out that a Net Zero solar home is a good case study demonstrating that Net Metering does in fact credit solar homeowners at the expense of other ratepayers.