Maine · Tax exemption · Mid-stack program
ME Solar Energy Property Tax Exemption
Removes a tax burden residential solar owners in Maine would otherwise carry -- see what it covers, eligibility, and payback impact below.
- Full property tax exemption
- stated benefit
- Residential
- eligible customers
- 9.3 yr
- Maine baseline payback
- 2
- other Maine programs
Mid-stack program · late directory
Maine stacks 3 tracked programs; this tax exemption sits beside peer levers on a 9.3-year modeled baseline.
- Stack3 programs
- In-state #2/2
- Type #19/45
- Baseline9.3 yr
In-state directory place #2 of 2 (late alphabet). National tax exemption directory #19 of 45. Amounts and eligibility change; verify with the official program page before relying on a dollar figure. Informational only - not financial advice. See our disclaimer.
Program description
Maine fully exempts residential solar systems from property tax.
Program at a glance
- Program type
- Tax exemption
- Eligible customers
- Residential
- Stated benefit
- Full property tax exemption
- State electricity rate
- 26¢/kWh
- Maine solar score
- 36/100
Solar's trajectory in Maine
The market this incentive operates in: total installed solar capacity in Maine reported to the EIA.
Maine's solar incentive stack
How this tax exemption sits among Maine's 2 tracked programs, by type
- Tax exemption
Tax exemption
1 programs
- Net metering
Net metering
1 programs
What this shows Maine tracks 2 incentive types; 1 are tax exemptions like this one, removing a cost solar owners would otherwise carry, on top of the state's other program types.
Where this tax exemption sits in Maine's mid-size stack
The ME Solar Energy Property Tax Exemption removes a tax burden solar owners would otherwise carry, one of Maine's DSIRE-tracked solar incentive programs. Eligibility is scoped to residential customers, with a stated benefit of Full property tax exemption. DSIRE lists no scheduled sunset, though enabling legislation and appropriations can still be revised year to year.
That's the backdrop this incentive works against. Maine averages 4.3 kWh/m²/day of usable sunlight and residential rates of 26¢/kWh, producing an estimated 7,534 kWh/year and $1,959 of annual utility offset on a typical 6 kW system costing $18,300. That baseline already implies a 9.3-year simple payback and a 25-year modeled net of roughly $30,675 before this incentive - every dollar this tax exemption delivers compresses that payback further.
A handful of other levers are worth checking alongside this one. Maine has 3 solar incentive programs indexed in DSIRE, including adjacent options like Maine Community Solar Program. The state's net-metering policy is classified as full, which governs how excess generation is credited and often decides whether a given program is worth claiming for a specific household.
Other Maine incentives
Frequently asked questions
What is the ME Solar Energy Property Tax Exemption among Maine's mid-size programs?
How does the ME Solar Energy Property Tax Exemption work?
Who qualifies, and what does a late in-state directory place mean?
How does this incentive affect solar ROI in Maine?
Are there other solar incentives in Maine?
Incentive data from the DSIRE (Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency); state solar economics from NREL and the U.S. EIA. See our methodology · Maine solar data · ROI calculator · All incentives.