Harrisburg sits between two utilities.
Both raised rates. Solar panels lock in yours.

Your monthly bill settles it — the utility name is printed at the top. Most of Harrisburg City, Lower Paxton, Susquehanna Township, and the rest of Dauphin County sits in PPL Electric territory. Parts of the West Shore in Cumberland County, including sections of Mechanicsburg and Carlisle, are Met-Ed customers. Live near a boundary and can't tell? The bill is the final word.

Start with a Pennsylvania license and real experience with both PPL and Met-Ed interconnection, plus familiarity with Dauphin and Cumberland County permitting. Then test them: a good installer will tell you plainly when solar doesn't make sense for your house instead of pushing to close. Expect a 25-year equipment warranty at no cost to you.

Yes, on both utilities. PPL raised supply rates 20% in 2025, and Met-Ed raised supply 24.6% over the past year. Today PPL customers pay about 19.2¢/kWh and Met-Ed customers about 21.1¢/kWh.

Met-Ed's grid spending adds to the pressure: its LTIIP III plan puts another $382 million into upgrades, and those costs get recovered through rate cases. PA solar installers offer fixed rates below the current utility price, which is what makes locking in worthwhile.

The $15 billion PAX data center campus in Carlisle is slated to draw up to 1.35 gigawatts from PPL's transmission system — roughly a large nuclear plant's output, added to the grid that serves your home. PPL is already funding transmission upgrades to support it, and those costs are recovered through rate cases. The 450 MW substation was approved in March 2026 and construction is underway. A fixed-rate solar agreement lets you set your price before that demand is fully online.

The trigger was PJM Interconnection, the wholesale market every PA utility, PPL and Met-Ed included, buys its power through. Capacity auction prices there climbed more than 800% in 2024, driven by data center growth, power plant retirements, and transmission bottlenecks. Utilities pass those costs straight to customers through supply rate changes twice a year. These pressures are structural, so expect more of the same rather than a one-time jump.

All of the big ones went up substantially. PPL supply rates rose 20% in 2025, and Met-Ed supply rose 24.6% over the past year. PECO's all-in rates are up 19.4% in 18 months. Duquesne Light has the state's highest all-in rate at roughly 22.4¢/kWh and took the biggest single-reset jump of any PA utility in December 2025. Penelec, West Penn Power, Penn Power, and Citizens Electric customers saw comparable increases. Whichever utility you have, installers in Pennsylvania offer fixed rates below the utility's current price.

Ahead of your utility's next rate reset. PPL and Met-Ed, like every PA electric utility, reset supply rates twice a year, and each increase that lands before your system goes live is one you pay at full retail. From signing to installation typically takes two to three months, with activation following. Starting sooner means fewer rate resets land before your system is generating.

With a Power Purchase Agreement, the solar company installs, owns, and maintains the panels on your roof, and you pay per kilowatt-hour for what they produce, at a rate under what PPL or Met-Ed charges. Nothing up front — just pay less for your electricity. No equipment cost and no maintenance bills, since you don't own the system.

Buying outright typically runs $15,000–$25,000 up front (less or more depending on system size). In return you own the system, claim the tax benefits, and may add resale value, but you also carry maintenance and repair risk for 25+ years. A lease charges a fixed monthly amount no matter how much the system generates. A PPA bills only for actual production, so your payment follows real output. For homeowners who don't have cash to buy, it delivers solar savings without the upfront outlay or ownership risk.

Nothing up front — you just pay less for your electricity. Under a no-cost PPA you pay only for the electricity the panels generate, at a rate below your utility's. There are no installation fees, equipment costs, or maintenance charges. The free savings estimate on this page shows what solar would save on your specific PPL or Met-Ed bill.

Bought outright, a system typically costs $15,000–$25,000, which is exactly why no-cost PPA programs exist. Under a PPA you skip that: no equipment cost, no installation cost, no maintenance cost. You pay per kWh for production, below your utility's current price, and the solar company owns the equipment and absorbs the risk. The pros and cons of solar look very different once the sticker price is gone.

Purchased outright, expect roughly $15,000–$25,000 depending on system size. Through a PPA with no money out of pocket, there's nothing to pay up front — you just pay less for your electricity. What you pay instead is a per-kWh rate, similar to what you already send your utility, just lower. Nothing is due at signing or install — you just have cheaper electric bills.

Nothing up front — you just pay less for your electricity. As for lifespan, most panels carry a 25-year warranty and keep producing well past that, typically at 90–93% of original output after 25 years.

Most likely yes, though a much smaller one. You pay the solar company for the power your panels make, at a rate below PPL's or Met-Ed's, and pay the utility only for whatever you still pull from the grid. If your system offsets 100% or more of your annual usage, the utility portion can shrink to just the monthly customer charge, typically $10–15. Still a bill, but a fraction of today's.

Pennsylvania ranks among the stronger solar states. Peak sun hours average 4.5–5 per day, net metering is legally protected at 1:1 for all of the state's electric utilities, and every major utility charges above the national average. Consider PPL at 19.2¢, Met-Ed at 21.1¢, PECO at 22¢, and Duquesne Light at 22.4¢ per kWh. With a no-cost PPA, the real question is not whether the state qualifies but whether your roof does.

Generally, yes. Pennsylvania receives 4.5–5 peak sun hours daily, net metering is protected by law, and all of the state's utilities price power above the national average. Panels still perform through the state's cloudy stretches, and the electricity you generate offsets rising utility costs rather than leaving you locked into today's already-high rate.

Savings depend on your utility and usage, but most PA homeowners save hundreds of dollars per year and tens of thousands over 25 years. On the environmental side, every kWh your panels produce is one a fossil-fuel plant doesn't have to generate; a typical residential system offsets several tons of carbon emissions each year.

Net metering tracks the gap between power you draw from the grid and power your panels send back. In daylight your home uses what it needs first, and the surplus flows to the grid, where your utility credits you at the full retail rate. Those credits then cover nights and winter, when output drops. Under Pennsylvania's Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards Act, every PA electric utility must offer residential customers 1:1 net metering — put $1 of energy on the grid, get $1 back.

For now it's intact. The Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards Act and PUC regulations require PPL, PECO, Met-Ed, and the state's other electric utilities to give residential customers 1:1 net metering: $1 of energy in, $1 back.

Plenty of states pay far less. California returns just $0.25 per dollar. Arizona returns $0.50, and that steps down every September for new customers. West Virginia's Mon Power and Potomac Edison customers get $0.70. Indiana pays $0.30, Utah $0.50, and Michigan $0.50 on average.

Pennsylvania isn't in that group today, but utilities and regulators here have been fighting over net metering rules in court since at least 2016.

For homeowners without cash on hand, the main incentive is the no-cost PPA — not a state rebate, but a financing structure that removes the cost barrier entirely. Net metering, backed by the Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards Act, is effectively the state's core program benefit, crediting excess production at the full retail rate.

Panels on your roof absorb sunlight and turn it into DC electricity, and an inverter converts that to the AC your home runs on. The house uses solar power first and only then draws from the grid. Extra production flows back to your utility for credit at the full retail rate (net metering), and when output dips at night or in winter, you draw down those banked credits before buying power. Your bill ends up being the difference between what you used and what the panels made.

Panels keep producing, just less — typically 10–25% of peak output. Pennsylvania still averages 4.5–5 peak sun hours a day once clouds and seasons are factored in, and systems are sized with that in mind. The surplus you bank in high-production summer months is what covers overcast days and winter. The climate is well within the range where solar pays off.

No. Panels only generate while sunlight hits them. After dark, your home pulls from net metering credits earned during the day, or from the grid once credits run out. A properly sized system makes enough surplus in daylight to cover most or all nighttime and winter usage, which is what makes solar workable in a state with cold, dark winters.

Winter output is lower because of shorter days and a lower sun angle, but summer surplus banked through net metering fills the gap. For orientation, south-facing roofs in Pennsylvania produce the most energy, while east- and west-facing roofs still perform well when the system is sized properly.

A standard residential panel puts out roughly 350–450 watts in peak sun, which works out to 1.5–2 kWh per day depending on season and orientation. A full array of 20–30 panels is typically enough to offset most or all of an average Pennsylvania home's monthly electric bill.

It comes down to your usage. Most homes need 20–30 panels to offset a typical bill, with roof size, sun exposure, and monthly kWh consumption shifting that number. The calculator above takes those factors into account when it estimates your system.

Size is set by weighing your current usage against your average monthly bill. Most PA homes land at 6–10 kW. The estimator above works from your actual bill and usage, so the system it sizes is built for your home rather than a generic average.

No. The no-cost PPA covers solar equipment, installation, and maintenance, but not roof replacement. If your roof needs replacing, that has to happen before panels go on. Roofs in good shape with 10 or more years of life left usually qualify without trouble, and detached garage roofs can work too. A Solar Energy Consultant will check your roof during the process and tell you straight if it's an issue.

Budget two to three months from signature to installation, with activation following. That holds for PPL and Met-Ed customers alike. Beginning now could get your system running ahead of the next round of rate increases.