How much you get
Lawrence homeowners don't get a rebate check for solar. SMART 3.0 locks in a production payment for every kWh your system generates, paid for a fixed term once National Grid signs off on enrollment, on top of whatever you save on your own electric bill.
Sun hours and Lawrence's mill housing
Lawrence sits inland along the Merrimack River and gets close to the statewide average of roughly 3.8 peak sun hours a day. The bigger factor for a lot of Lawrence homeowners is the housing stock: the city has a large share of older triple-deckers and duplexes built for mill workers in the late 1800s and early 1900s, often with flatter, more compact roofs than newer construction. That caps system size on some properties, so get an installer to measure your actual usable roof area rather than sizing off square footage alone.
Lawrence isn't a Municipal Light Plant town
Around 41 Massachusetts towns run their own municipal electric utility instead of a state-regulated investor-owned one — places like Reading, Wellesley, and Concord. Lawrence isn't one of them. National Grid delivers power here, which means Lawrence homeowners go through the same statewide SMART 3.0 enrollment and net metering rules as most of eastern Massachusetts, rather than a municipal utility's separate (and sometimes less generous) solar program.
How to claim it
- Schedule your free Mass Save home energy assessment (National Grid customers can also call 1-866-527-7283 directly)
- Get quotes from Mass Save-participating contractors serving Lawrence
- Work is installed
- Contractor or you file the rebate paperwork with Mass Save
- Rebate is applied at point of sale or reimbursed within weeks
Finding an installer in Lawrence
We're still building our verified installer network in Lawrence, so we don't have vetted local companies to list here yet. Browse our full directory of vetted installers across Massachusetts — several serve the wider Merrimack Valley, including Lawrence.
Browse the full Massachusetts installer directory →
Common questions
Does Massachusetts have a flat solar rebate for Lawrence homeowners?
No. SMART 3.0 pays a locked-in per-kWh production payment for a fixed term once National Grid enrolls your system, on top of your own electricity savings.
Is Lawrence eligible for SMART 3.0?
Yes. Lawrence's electric utility is National Grid, an investor-owned utility, not one of the roughly 41 Massachusetts towns that run their own municipal light plant, so Lawrence isn't excluded from the state's SMART 3.0 program.
I've read about Mass Save's rebate backlog. Does that affect my SMART application?
The backlog reported by WBZ's I-Team and flagged by the state attorney general's office is mostly about heat pump and insulation rebates paid through Mass Save's queue. SMART 3.0 solar payments run through National Grid's own enrollment process, on a different track, though your installer should still give you a real enrollment timeline rather than assuming it's instant.
Your utility: National Grid
National Grid delivers electricity in Lawrence and is the utility that credits your account once your panels start sending power back to the grid — the SMART rate is set by the state, but net metering terms and interconnection timing come from National Grid. Ask them, through your installer, about current interconnection wait times in the Merrimack Valley before you sign.
Local resources
- Merrimack Valley Planning Commission (MVPC) — the regional planning agency for Lawrence and the Merrimack Valley, with land use, environment, and clean-energy planning work.
- Mass.gov: Merrimack Valley Clean Energy & Energy Efficiency Programs — a state and attorney general's office initiative specifically covering Lawrence, Andover, and North Andover.
- Mass.gov SMART program page — the state's own explanation of the SMART 3.0 tariff.
Next steps
View all Lawrence rebate programs → or check the official Mass Save site → for the current source of truth.