There a few ways to make money off of a solar project.
If you are generating electricity from solar for your home or business, you may be able to reduce your annual electricity bills.
Depending on state and federal tax incentives, you may also be able to save money through tax credits.
Lastly, depending on how electric utilities are regulated in your state and state policies, it may be possible to sell the energy produced from your panels back to your power provider via net metering.
Net metering allows utility customers who generate their own solar electricity to feed some of the energy that they do not use back to the grid. This billing method credits solar customers against their electricity consumption, lowering their monthly bills. Depending on how much solar energy is produced and local policies, the benefits of net metering can vary for solar customers in different parts of the country.
More information on net metering.