Over 10,000 homeowners in New Hampshire have used EnergySage to receive & compare solar panel installation quotes!
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Solar installation costs do not include the 30% federal investment tax credit or local incentives. Savings estimates do not account for utility net billing rates.
Favorable incentives and high electricity costs combine to make the Granite State a great place to save thousands by going solar.
New Hampshire is all things lush, green, and beautiful, from the White Mountain National Forest to the Northern reaches of the Application Train. With so much natural beauty to protect, it is no surprise that the Granite State has amassed an impressive amount of solar energy capacity. New Hampshire has grown the solar industry through a strong RPS, excellent net metering program, and low-income financing options.
In the state of New Hampshire, the average cost of solar panel installation ranges from $15,682 to $21,218. On a cost per watt ($/W) basis, a solar panel installation in New Hampshire ranges in price from $3.14 to $4.24. See how New Hampshire compares to solar panel costs across the U.S.
How long does it take to earn back your initial investment in solar panels? A solar payback period is the amount of time it takes for property owners who install solar panels to recover their initial investment through electricity savings. In New Hampshire, the average solar payback period is 10.19 years.
Regardless of the exact cost of installation, there are many affordable financing options for solar panel systems. Cash purchases are one common method to pay for solar and often lead to the most long-term value for your money. If an upfront purchase isn’t right for you, solar loans and solar lease/PPAs are available to help finance a solar energy system.
For property owners, you now can customize your solar panels, inverters, racking systems, and batteries, as well as the general aesthetic of the installation. This customizability has made it important for solar consumers to understand these various factors. For example, the best solar panels available may have premium efficiencies and warranties, but will typically be more costly. However, depending on the size of the installation, you’ll need to determine whether high-efficiency solar panels that can produce more electricity are worthwhile. Also, your appetite for risk can help determine which solar warranties best fit your needs. These are just a few of the many factors to consider when selecting solar panel equipment.
Aside from the power output of the solar equipment you choose to install, the amount of energy you generate with solar panels in New Hampshire is directly related to the amount of sunlight that hits your panels. While sunlight is not always plentiful in New England, New Hampshire residents should feel fortunate that the state offers excellent financial incentives for going solar.
There are additional factors that determine how much solar electricity you can produce. These include shading and panel angle, which are used to calculate your total production estimate. a prediction of how much energy your solar installation will produce over time. This evaluation offers a clear estimate of how much energy your solar installation will produce. You can see how much solar panels can save you based on factors like geographic location and shading by using the EnergySage Solar Calculator.
Solar incentives in New Hampshire can help you reduce the overall price of going solar. Learn more about why solar panels are such a great investment in New Hampshire.
Learn about solar incentives in NHThe federal investment tax credit, now referred to as the Residential Clean Energy Credit for residential systems, has been one of the most reliable and impactful incentives for solar across the U.S. This solar incentive allows you to deduct 30 percent of the total system cost from your federal taxes. For example, a solar energy system installation that costs $15,000 out of pocket will qualify for a tax deduction of $4,500. For residential systems, this advantageous incentive lasts until the end of 2032 at which point it steps down to 26 percent. The federal ITC drops to 22 percent in 2034 and is eliminated for residential solar installations in 2035. Commercial systems are eligible at least through 2024, but may not be eligible for the full 30 percent depending on certain labor and domestic manufacturing requirements; they also may be eligible for specific ITC adders.
Besides the federal ITC, New Hampshire has additional incentives for going solar that are dependent on your area and utility company. Of note are a strong net metering system and local property tax exemptions. Additionally, New Hampshire has established a Small PV systems program and the New Hampshire Low-Income Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), meant to help homeowners like yourself! To learn more about New Hampshire’s best financial incentives for solar, check out our complete overview of the state’s best solar incentives.
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Learn more about EnergySageOverall, the Granite State’s solar policies demonstrate a commitment to making solar more accessible over the past few decades. In addition to promoting solar for environmental concerns, decreasing solar costs and high state electricity prices have helped increased demand over the past few years. As of today, New Hampshire has developed about 85 megawatts (MW) of solar energy capacity ranking it 38th on SEIA’s national ranking of 2018.
The first enacted solar policy in New Hampshire dates back to 1976 when policymakers passed a Property Tax Exemption for Renewable Energy as a local option for cities and towns. Today, more than 100 cities and towns have used this policy to relieve homeowners of this property tax to make solar more accessible. In 1986, the state followed the tax exemption with Solar Easements to ensure provisions for homeowners that they have the right to unobstructed access to solar energy.
Following these early solar policy wins, New Hampshire adopted one of its most influential policies more than a decade later by approving a net metering program in 1998. Throughout the U.S., net metering has been crucial for the solar energy industry by allowing residents to store surplus net energy in the electric grid and receive compensation for it on their energy bill. Based on New Hampshire’s recent amendments in 2018, utilities must reward solar billing credits to homeowners with energy installations under 5 MW, which effectively includes all residential systems. Because state policymakers have fought to continue strengthening their net metering program, even more residents will be able to take advantage of this significant financial incentive.
Beyond net metering, the most important policy that New Hampshire has passed to help solar is the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) that began in 2007. Like net metering, state energy requirements have been imperative to the development of clean energy across the nation. For New Hampshire, state electricity providers, excluding municipals utilities, are mandated to supply 25.2 percent of their retail electricity sales from renewable energy sources by 2025. The legislation also includes a carve-out provision for solar that requires 0.7 percent of this energy to be supplied by 2020.
For utilities, these goals must be met or they face fines known as alternative compliance payments. New Hampshire has actually put these fines to good use by using them to fund the Residential Small Renewable Energy Rebate program, which offered $0.20 per watt up to $1,000 or half the cost of the system for any system 10 kilowatts (kW) or less beginning in 2008. The Public Utilities Commission (PUC) put this incentive on hold in 2017 due to surging demand that could not be met.
While New Hampshire has already realized a wide variety of policies to incentivize going solar, the state has not stopped supporting the industry. The latest solar policy initiative from New Hampshire was approving virtual net metering in 2013. The program makes going solar for residents the easiest it has ever been by allowing residents to receive net metering credits for surplus generation by subscribing to off-site solar installations. Although the program got off to a slow start, the success of this system in other states should provide an optimistic projection for further usage in the near future.
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