The policies of net metering can vary from state to state; however, the concept is that you receive credit from utility providers for the energy you produce that can be sent back to the grid as an excess of what you consumed. In general, the buyback cost of energy is higher than the credit received, which is why battery storage becomes an important component of solar power systems, but the idea of net metering is that you only buy energy from the utility company above and beyond what you produce.
