With so much natural beauty to protect in New Hampshire, it is no surprise that the Granite State has installed an impressive amount of solar energy systems. New Hampshire has grown the solar industry through strong incentive programs and low-income financing options.

The Renewable Energy Property Tax Exemption in New Hampshire permits cities and towns to offer exemptions from local property taxes for solar panel systems. The goal of the exemption is to create a tax neutral policy within a municipality that neither increases an individual's property tax, nor decreases the municipality's property tax revenues. By implementing it as a tax neutral policy, homeowners do not have a disincentive of higher property taxes for installing a renewable energy system, and since there is no net reduction in municipal tax revenues, other taxpayers in a municipality are not affected.

THE SOLAR TAX CREDIT IS EXPIRING SOON!

Extended renewable energy tax credits have been included in a $1.4 trillion federal spending package alongside a $900 billion COVID-19 virus relief spending bill. The solar investment tax credit (ITC), which was scheduled to drop from 26% to 22% in 2021, will stay at 26% for two more years. This means solar projects in all market segments (residential, commercial, industrial, utility-scale) that begin construction in 2021 and 2022 will still be able to receive a tax credit at 26%. All markets will drop to a 22% tax credit in 2023 so don't delay!

Net Metering

NH Public Utilities Commission provides for Net Metering, which permits homeowners to receive credit for on-site electricity generation such as from a solar photovoltaic (PV) or wind turbine installation when the generation exceeds household consumption. This is accomplished by use of an electric meter that can run both forward and backward so that the homeowner is billed only for the net reading on the meter.