FindSolar.caNew Brunswick's net metering carries a calendar quirk that decides how big your system should be: every March 31, banked credits reset to zero, with no compensation for what disappears. NB Power's own FAQ says it plainly, and it turns oversizing from a mild inefficiency elsewhere into an annual donation here. Design around the date and the program is friendly; ignore it and every surplus June is working for free.
The rule, verbatim and verified
From NB Power's net metering FAQs, checked August 26, 2026: credits carry forward and are used month to month until March 31 each year, when the balance resets to zero, and there is no payment for unused credits. Systems up to 100 kW qualify under the eligibility requirements. The March date is actually well chosen for solar: the reset lands just as winter drawdown ends, so a correctly sized system enters April near zero anyway. The rule only bites systems that produce more than the house uses across the whole cycle.
Sizing to the reset
The design target: annual production at or slightly below annual consumption, so the summer surplus you bank is fully drained by the winter that follows, leaving little on the table when March 31 arrives. Sizing under your usage also buys margin against the variables no model controls: a mild winter, a sunny summer, a teenager moving out. In New Brunswick the cost of guessing high is real and annual, while the cost of guessing slightly low is a few grid kilowatt-hours; guess low.
Growing into your surplus
If your credits keep dying in March, you have a happier option than regret: new load. An EV or a heat pump absorbs surplus production into retail-value self-consumption, and a system that overshoots today's house can be exactly right for next year's driveway. The order of operations matters, though: plan the load, then the array, as the sizing guide argues. Buying panels first and hoping electrification follows is the reset's favourite customer.
The model to demand from any installer
A New Brunswick payback estimate must be month-by-month: production and consumption per month, the credit bank's balance through the year, and anything still banked at March 31 valued at zero. An annual model that multiplies total production by the retail rate silently pretends the reset does not exist, and overstates precisely the systems the reset punishes. Ask to see March in the spreadsheet; serious installers show it without flinching. Then run your own version in the calculator and compare.
Questions homeowners ask
What happens to unused NB Power net-metering credits on March 31?
The balance resets to zero, with no compensation, as NB Power's FAQs state plainly, checked August 26, 2026: credits carry forward month to month until March 31 each year, then reset. Whatever the bank holds that morning simply disappears, which is the fact your system size must respect.
Does NB Power pay me cash for leftover solar credits?
No. Unused credits expire at the reset uncompensated, and credits are also zeroed without payment if you move away or the account changes name. Surplus generation in New Brunswick is never revenue; it is either consumption you offset before April or a donation.
How do I avoid losing solar credits at year-end?
Size so annual production sits at or slightly below annual consumption: summer surplus then drains fully through the winter, and the bank approaches the reset near empty by design. The March date is kind to correct sizing, landing exactly where winter drawdown ends. It is only oversizing that feeds it.
Should I intentionally size below 100% of my annual electricity use?
Modestly below is prudent: it buys margin against sunny summers, mild winters and shrinking household usage, all of which push credits toward an uncompensated death in March. The downside of slightly small is a few retail-rate kilowatt-hours; the downside of slightly large recurs annually. Choose the cheap error.
What if I add an EV or heat pump after the system is installed?
New load is the happy ending for chronic surplus: an EV or heat pump converts credits that would have expired into retail-value self-consumption. If electrification is truly planned, sizing to the future house is legitimate; just sequence the plan deliberately rather than buying panels on hope.
How should my installer account for the March 31 reset in the ROI estimate?
With a month-by-month model: production, consumption and the running credit balance through the year, and any balance at March 31 valued at zero. An annual total multiplied by the retail rate assumes the reset away and flatters exactly the oversized designs it punishes. Ask to see March.