Solar by state
Solar in New Jersey, by the numbers
Utilities and their rates, adoption, ten years of growth, batteries, ownership, state rules and installer licensing in New Jersey, from federal 2024 data.
New Jersey in brief
5.35% of New Jersey homes had rooftop solar in 2024, the 11th-highest of 51 (3.55% nationally). Power cost 19.34¢/kWh, above the national 16.48¢, and the average system was 6.91 kW. Public Service Electric & Gas Company serves 55.7% of homes.
Where does New Jersey stand out?
The four measures, beyond price and adoption, on which New Jersey sits furthest from the middle of the ranking.
New Jersey solar in numbers, 2024
Every New Jersey figure next to the national one, with its place in the ranking (highest first, out of the jurisdictions reporting it).
| Measure | New Jersey | United States | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes with a metered rooftop system | 5.35% | 3.55% | 11th-highest of 51 |
| Rooftop systems counted | 199,822 | 5,077,543 | 5th-highest of 51 |
| Average system size | 6.91 kW | 6.74 kW | 16th-lowest of 51 |
| Residential price | 19.34¢/kWh | 16.48¢/kWh | 11th-highest of 51 |
| Average monthly bill | $128.13 | $142.26 | 19th-lowest of 51 |
| Use per home | 7,949 kWh/yr | 10,359 kWh/yr | 14th-lowest of 51 |
| Systems with a battery | 0.80% | 5.86% | 18th-lowest of 47 |
| Leased or on a PPA | 51.4% | 29.1% | 4th-highest of 38 |
| Growth in systems, five years | 11.9% a year | — | 5th-lowest of 51 |
| Minutes without power per customer | 173 | 297 (median state) | 14th-lowest of 51 |
| Homes on a time-varying rate | 0.41% | 11.1% | 16th-lowest of 51 |
| Installed rooftop capacity | 1,380.7 MW | 34,226 MW | — |
Source: US EIA, Form EIA-861, 2024 final release, retrieved 2 September 2026. The New Jersey ratios and ranks are HyreSolar calculations from EIA inputs.
Which utility serves New Jersey, and what does it charge?
The 5 largest utilities selling to New Jersey homes, by residential customers, with the price full-service customers paid and how many run net-metered solar.
| Utility | Type | Homes served | Price per kWh | Use per home, monthly | Net-metered systems |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Public Service Electric & Gas Company | Investor-owned; wires, 96% on its own supply | 2,056,231 (55.7%) | 20.42¢ | 564 kWh | 90,063 (4.4%) |
| Jersey Central Power & Light Company | Investor-owned; wires, 93% on its own supply | 1,038,258 (28.1%) | 15.65¢ | 787 kWh | 54,556 (5.3%) |
| Atlantic City Electric Company | Investor-owned; wires, 93% on its own supply | 506,488 (13.7%) | 23.41¢ | 633 kWh | 52,216 (10.3%) |
| Rockland Electric Company | Investor-owned; wires, 96% on its own supply | 66,360 (1.8%) | 21.04¢ | 934 kWh | 1,430 (2.2%) |
| City of Vineland | Municipal | 22,774 (0.62%) | 17.84¢ | 767 kWh | 1,557 (6.8%) |
Source: US EIA, Form EIA-861 2024, Sales to Ultimate Customers and Net Metering, utility level, retrieved 5 October 2026. Shares are of 3,690,111 New Jersey residential accounts. Each New Jersey price is residential revenue divided by sales for full-service customers (HyreSolar calculation); a wires company’s price is its default-service price.
What do the New Jersey utility figures mean for a solar quote?
EIA-861 lists 5 utilities serving homes in New Jersey in 2024, across 3,690,111 residential accounts. The three largest, Public Service Electric & Gas Company, Jersey Central Power & Light Company and Atlantic City Electric Company, served 97.6% of those homes. By ownership: investor-owned utilities 99.4%.
200,693 New Jersey homes (5.4%) bought their energy from 63 competitive suppliers, while the local utility kept delivering it. On a supplier, the energy price on your bill is the supplier’s, so price a solar quote against your own bill rather than the utility prices in the table.
Public Service Electric & Gas Company, the largest, served 2,056,231 New Jersey homes (55.7%). Its full-service residential customers paid 20.42¢ per kWh, above the New Jersey average of 19.34¢, and used 564 kWh a month on average. 90,063 of its customers ran net-metered rooftop solar, 4.4% of its homes against 5.35% statewide.
Among the 5 New Jersey utilities with at least 5,000 residential customers and a full-service price, the price ran from 15.65¢ at Jersey Central Power & Light Company to 23.41¢ at Atlantic City Electric Company.
At the New Jersey average of 7,949 kWh a year, that 7.76¢ gap is worth about $617 a year (our arithmetic), so the same system offsets more money in one territory than the other.
Price a quote on your own utility’s rate, not the 19.34¢ New Jersey average.
Rooftop solar is concentrated: Public Service Electric & Gas Company alone accounts for 90,063 net-metered residential systems, about 45% of the 199,822 counted in New Jersey, and 5 New Jersey utilities reported any at all. The highest adoption among the larger utilities was at Atlantic City Electric Company, where 10.3% of homes had a system.
What does power cost in New Jersey, and why does it matter?
Residential electricity in New Jersey averaged 19.34¢ per kilowatt-hour in 2024, the 11th-highest of 51 and above the national 16.48¢. New Jersey sits in the top quarter on price, so power used on site replaces power bought at well above the national rate.
The average New Jersey household bill was $128.13 a month ($1,538 a year), the 19th-lowest of 51, against $142.26 nationally. That $1,538 is the ceiling on what solar could save a typical New Jersey home, before fixed monthly charges.
Only 0.41% of New Jersey homes were on a time-varying rate in 2024 (11.1% nationally), so a flat rate is the likely starting point. 90.8% of New Jersey residential meters were smart meters (83.8% nationally), and a time-varying rate needs one. How time-of-use changes solar.
How many New Jersey homes have solar?
New Jersey had 199,822 rooftop systems on net metering in 2024, across 3,735,638 residential accounts: 5.35% of homes, the 11th-highest of 51. By national standards New Jersey is a mature market, which can mean several installers to compare and a permit office that has handled solar before.
The New Jersey market counted 17,401 more systems in 2024 than in 2023 and has grown 11.9% a year over five years, the 5th-lowest of 51. Where growth has turned nationally.
How has New Jersey solar changed since 2014?
New Jersey counted 28,473 net-metered rooftop systems in 2014 and 199,822 in 2024, 7.0 times as many. The share of homes with one moved from 0.82% to 5.35%. The biggest one-year addition came in 2016, with 23,504 more systems than the year before.
| Year | Rooftop systems | Share of homes | Average size | Residential price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 28,473 | 0.82% | 7.3 kW | 15.78¢ |
| 2016 | 63,509 | 1.81% | 6.5 kW | 15.72¢ |
| 2018 | 98,480 | 2.76% | 7.2 kW | 15.41¢ |
| 2020 | 127,408 | 3.52% | 7.3 kW | 16.03¢ |
| 2022 | 160,105 | 4.36% | 7.4 kW | 16.74¢ |
| 2024 | 199,822 | 5.35% | 6.9 kW | 19.34¢ |
Source: US EIA, Form EIA-861 annual files 2014–2024, net-metered residential systems, retrieved 2 September 2026. New Jersey shares and sizes are HyreSolar calculations.
What does the New Jersey trend mean for a savings estimate?
Over the same years the New Jersey residential price went from 15.78¢ to 19.34¢ per kWh, up 23%, and the average system from 7.3 kW to 6.9 kW. With New Jersey prices up 23% across ten years, a savings estimate that assumes steep yearly rate rises is assuming more than this record shows.
How big is a typical New Jersey system?
The average New Jersey system was 6.91 kW in 2024, the 16th-lowest of 51, against 6.74 kW nationally. New Jersey homes used 7,949 kilowatt-hours a year each, the 14th-lowest of 51.
A New Jersey home using 7,949 kWh is an average, not a design input: size from your own twelve months of bills and usable roof with cost by system size and the system size calculator.
Who owns the systems in New Jersey?
In New Jersey, 51.4% of systems were third-party owned in 2024: leased, or on a power purchase agreement (PPA), rather than owned by the household. That is the 4th-highest of 38, against 29.1% nationally.
Third-party ownership is the common way solar is sold in New Jersey. Expect a lease or power purchase agreement to be offered, and check who will own the equipment before you sign. Whoever owns a New Jersey system claims any tax credit on it: Section 48E explained.
Do New Jersey homes add batteries?
In New Jersey, 0.80% of solar systems were paired with a battery in 2024 (1,605 systems), the 18th-lowest of 47. New Jersey’s share is well under half the national 5.86%.
On reliability, the average New Jersey customer went 173 minutes without power in 2024 counting major storms, and 99 minutes without them. The median state saw 297. Outages in every state.
Whether a battery pays in New Jersey turns on your utility’s export credit and your own outage history: what a home battery does.
Which New Jersey solar laws have we read?
New Jersey statutes we read ourselves. Any rule not listed here is one we have not read, not one that does not exist.
Property tax on the added value
Exemption, but only on certification by the local enforcing agency.
N.J.S.A. 54:4-3.113b. Read from a third-party copy of the code on September 2, 2026, not yet confirmed against the state’s own publisher. Property tax exemptions
How do you check a solar company’s license in New Jersey?
We checked 56 New Jersey solar companies from June to August 2026 against the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, Board of Examiners of Electrical Contractors and Regulated Business Section. 16.1% of those did not hold a current license when checked (9 expired).
Ask which license a company holds, then confirm the number with the issuing authority yourself.
These counts describe the companies we checked on those dates, not every company in New Jersey, and a license current then may have lapsed since. How to verify a solar license.
Which states are closest to New Jersey on adoption?
The six jurisdictions nearest to New Jersey’s 5.35% share of homes with rooftop solar.
Where do the New Jersey numbers come from?
The New Jersey figures are HyreSolar calculations from the Form EIA-861 annual files: 199,822 net-metered residential systems counted against 3,735,638 residential accounts, sizes as means, and 5 utility-level rows for the utility table, matched to net-metering records by EIA utility number.
The method and limits cover all 51; the New Jersey row is in the data as a CSV.
No New Jersey figure here is an estimate for one home: your roof, usage, utility tariff and tax position decide that.
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Questions
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