New Hampshire gives no upfront help for solar in 2026, so the payback rests on one bill credit. On your utility’s own supply, exported power earns most of the retail price, and a typical home system pays for itself in about 9.9 years at Eversource, the largest utility, and about 10 in our Liberty example (simple payback before incentives). If a community power program or another supplier sells your power and credits nothing for it, the same system takes about 16.
Simple payback before incentives at Eversource, default supplyAbout 9.9 years
Liberty: default supply or community powerAbout 10 to 16 years
Typical owned 9.87 kW system at $28,820 cash (EcoGen Solar Cost Index, September 2026), exports credited at Liberty’s about 23.04 cents per kWh; about 16 years at about 7.2 cents per kWh. Liberty’s 28.74 cents per kWh for power used at home; 40% of the solar power used at home as it is made, 60% sent to the grid and $296 a year in owner costs are our assumptions. Eversource’s 9.9 years is our per-utility figure, with no upkeep. See the math.
- Supplier: the name on the supply line of your bill. It decides most of the export credit.
- Utility: Eversource, Liberty and Unitil share one credit formula. The co-op sets its own.
- Time in home: about 10 years to pay back on default supply (9.9 at Eversource), longer without a supply credit.
2026 rules: new home systems get no 30% federal homeowner credit (IRS), and the state rebate is permanently closed. At Eversource, Liberty and Unitil, the net metering formula holds until December 31, 2040.
How we checked this guide
Credit rules and rates come from the Liberty tariff, the New Hampshire Electric Cooperative rate schedule and the Community Power Coalition; the price from the U.S. EIA. Assumed numbers are labelled.
The writer and checker shown above are EcoGen staff. EcoGen is paid when homeowners request quotes, which is explained beside the quote form. Read our editorial standards.
What tips a New Hampshire solar answer either way
Nothing lowers the panel price here: no rebate, no tax credit and, with no general sales tax, no sales tax to waive. The return comes from your bill, and two names on it decide most of it. Read each row across.
Who sells your power
Worth a closer look
Your bill shows the utility’s default energy service, so exports earn the supply part.
Pause and check
You opted into community power, or signed with a supplier that pays nothing for exports.
Check next: the supply line on your bill, and what that seller pays for exports, in writing.
Which utility delivers it
Worth a closer look
Eversource, Liberty or Unitil, with the formula fixed until December 31, 2040.
Pause and check
A co-op member who exports most of the output, at 14.662 cents per kWh against 24.713 cents bought.
Check next: your utility on the quote and the export credit per kWh it assumed.
Price
Worth a closer look
A cash price near $2.92 per watt, paid in cash or a low-fee loan.
Pause and check
A financed offer whose dealer fee lifts the price well above cash.
Check next: the cash price next to the financed total, with APR, fees and term.
Roof and time in home
Worth a closer look
An unshaded roof with years of life left, and plans to stay past payback.
Pause and check
A roof due for replacement, heavy shade, or a likely move within about 10 years.
Check next: roof age, a shade report and your likely moving date.
Town tax rule
Worth a closer look
Your town adopted the RSA 72:62 exemption, and you file by April 15.
Pause and check
Your town has no exemption, so the system can raise your assessment.
Check next: with your town assessor before the quote is final.
Same Liberty home, two power suppliers
A kWh (kilowatt-hour) is the unit your bill counts. An export credit is what you earn per kWh sent to the grid. Simple payback is net cost divided by yearly savings.
- Cash price
- $28,820
- Confirmed incentives
- $0
- Year-one production
- 13,019 kWh
- Used at home / exported
- 40% / 60%
- Liberty price, default supply
- $0.2874/kWh
- Export credit
- $0.2304/kWh
- Owner-cost allowance
- $296/yr
- Used-at-home value
13,019 × 40% × $0.2874$1,497/yr - Export value
13,019 × 60% × $0.2304$1,800/yr - Yearly savings after owner costs
$1,497 + $1,800 − $296$3,000/yr - Simple cash payback
$28,820 ÷ $3,000about 9.6 years
Index system: 9.87 kW, $28,820 cash, 1,319 kWh per kW a year (September 2026). No rebate or tax credit is subtracted because none applies. This is a Liberty home on default supply: power used at home saves Liberty’s 28.74 cents per kWh (table below), and exports earn about 23.04 cents. Eversource and Unitil use the same formula on their own rates, about 19.96 and 20.63 cents per kWh for exports in October 2026, so run the calculator with your own utility’s figures. Also assumed: 40% used at home as it is made, 60% sent to the grid, owner costs of $296 a year ($30 per kW, including a reserve for a new inverter).
Now change only who sells the power. Many towns now buy power through community power programs. The Community Power Coalition of New Hampshire does not enroll homes the utility already lists as net metered, but solar owners can opt in, and it says they get no money for the supply part of their exports. Liberty then credits only transmission and 25% of distribution.
| Scenario | Export credit | Export value | Yearly savings | Simple payback |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Utility default supply | $0.2304/kWh | $1,800 | $3,000 | about 9.6 years |
| Community power, no supply credit | $0.072/kWh | $562 | $1,763 | about 16.3 years |
The power you use at home saves the same in both cases. Only the exported share loses value, and here that adds about 7 years. A lower community power rate can win a little back on power you buy, so run that trade with your own bill.
Test your own New Hampshire numbers
Enter the price, size and credit from your quote and press Calculate. For the community power case, set the export credit to about 7.2 cents per kWh. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere.
Example result
about 9.6 years
simple cash payback
- Used-at-home value
- $1,497/yr
- Export value
- $1,800/yr
- Owner costs
- −$296/yr
- Yearly savings
- $3,000/yr
- Net cost
- $28,820
Starts with the default-supply case above. Flat first-year values; supply rates reset twice a year, and panel wear and repairs will change the result.
How the export credit is built at Eversource, Liberty and Unitil
Each month, power you send out beyond what you took becomes a dollar credit on later bills. It pays the supply and transmission charges in full, plus 25% of distribution.
Part of the Liberty rate | You pay per kWh | Export credit, default supply | Export credit, other supplier |
|---|---|---|---|
Supply (default energy service) | 15.835 cents | 15.835 cents | From the utility: nothing |
Transmission | 5.548 cents | 5.548 cents | 5.548 cents |
Distribution | 6.611 cents | about 1.653 cents | about 1.653 cents |
Total | 28.74 cents per kWh | about 23.04 cents per kWh | about 7.2 cents per kWh |
Used at home: 5,208 kWh. Each one replaces power you would have bought, so it saves the full variable rate ($0.2874 here).
Sent to the grid: 7,811 kWh. These earn whatever your utility pays for exports ($0.2304 here). That is a little less.
The 40/60 split is a planning assumption based on home-use research, not a measured New Hampshire average. Use your own share in the calculator.
Liberty’s supply rate runs August 1, 2026 to January 31, 2027; the credit moves when it resets. The Public Utilities Commission kept the formula in an order of November 18, 2024, and docket DE 22-060 is still open.
A credit balance above $100 at the end of March can be paid out on request. If you were put on community power by mistake, state law since August 18, 2026 lets you return to default supply with up to 4 months of missed credits.
Price your roof with your own credit
A New Hampshire quote should name your utility and your supplier, and show the export credit it used for each.
Solar providers that serve your area may contact you, and they pay EcoGen for the introduction. How we make money.
Your utility sets the rules, the co-op most of all
Three of the four utilities follow the state formula above, each on its own rates. New Hampshire Electric Cooperative (NHEC) runs its own program.
| Utility | Credit for exported power | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Liberty Utilities | about 23.04 cents per kWh on default supply; about 7.2 cents per kWh with another supplier | The supply line on your bill. |
| Eversource | Same formula on Eversource’s own rates: about 19.96 cents per kWh on default supply; about 5.95 cents per kWh with another supplier | The three rates from your own bill. |
| Unitil | Same formula on Unitil’s own rates: about 20.63 cents per kWh on default supply; about 6.28 cents per kWh with another supplier | Same as Eversource. |
| New Hampshire Electric Cooperative | 14.662 cents per kWh per kWh; 12.180 cents each beyond 2,000 kWh | The counting period for the lower rate, and your supplier. |
On the co-op, power you buy costs 24.713 cents per kWh plus $29.00 a month, while exports earn 14.662 cents per kWh. Solar power used as it is made saves the full rate, so the home-use share counts for more. A member on another supplier keeps only about 4.1 cents per kWh per exported kWh. Rates took effect August 1, 2026.
Our per-utility paybacks, simple payback before incentives, with no upkeep or price rises: Eversource takes about 9.9 years on default supply. That uses its 25.95-cent average price less its $19.81 monthly charge for power used at home, and 19.956 cents for the 13.2% of solar power its homes reported left over at month end. The co-op takes about 12.6 years at a modeled 40% used at home, or 11.9 to 13.3 years at 55% to 28%. Liberty and Unitil are not yet in those figures.
Town taxes, resale and timing: kept out of the payback
Property tax. Under RSA 72:62, each town decides whether solar is exempt from your assessment. You apply to the assessor by April 15. Without the exemption, your tax bill can rise, which lengthens the payback.
Resale. Buyers and appraisers treat solar differently, so the effect at sale is uncertain. We do not count it.
Waiting. No rebate is coming back, and the open commission case could change terms for later systems. Wait only if your roof needs replacing first. If you finance, compare the cash and financed totals; our solar financing guide has a payment calculator.
Six lines a New Hampshire quote should carry
Put two or three quotes side by side. A quote that skips these cannot back up its payback number.
- Supplier named. Default service, community power or a competitive supplier, and what each pays for exports.
- Export credit per kWh. The cents assumed, next to about 23.04 cents per kWh on Liberty default supply.
- Home-use share. How much output the quote expects you to use as it is made.
- Cash and financed prices. Both totals side by side, any dealer fee shown.
- Size and production. kW, year-one kWh and the shading assumed.
- Paperwork. Who files with the utility, and your town’s Form PA-29 for the tax exemption.
Compare New Hampshire solar quotes
Ask each installer which supplier and export credit its savings figure uses. Enter your ZIP code to request quotes from solar providers that serve your area.
How EcoGen is paid
EcoGen America does not sell or install solar. When you request quotes, we pass your request to solar providers serving your area, and they pay us for the introduction. Providers can include installers, solar marketplaces and lead exchanges, and more than one may contact you. You never pay us. This is not an application to your utility’s net metering program.
More New Hampshire solar guides
- New Hampshire solar guide: utilities, incentives and installers in one place
- New Hampshire solar incentives: bill credits, town tax rules and the battery check
- What solar costs in New Hampshire
- Free solar panels in New Hampshire: what a no-money-down offer means
- Are solar panels worth it? The national guide and payback calculator
Comparing installers? See New Hampshire solar companies.
All 51 state guides
New Hampshire solar payback questions
Are solar panels worth it in New Hampshire in 2026?
Often, but check who sells your power first. A typical owned system pays back in about 9.9 years at Eversource on default supply, before incentives. In our Liberty example it takes about 10 years on default supply and about 16 on a supplier that pays no supply credit. A sound roof and a plan to stay past payback matter as much as the credit.
How long does solar take to pay for itself in New Hampshire?
About 10 years for a typical 9.87 kW system at $28,820 cash on Liberty’s default supply, when exports earn about 23.04 cents per kWh and 40% of the output is used at home as it is made. It rises to about 16 when the credit falls to about 7.2 cents per kWh. Your usage, shade and price move both.
Is solar still worth it without the federal tax credit?
It can be. The homeowner credit ended for systems installed after December 31, 2025, and the state rebate was repealed by Senate Bill 303 of 2024. Our example already counts no incentive at all: the payback rests on the bill credit and Liberty’s price of 28.74 cents per kWh.
Which New Hampshire utility gives solar the best payback?
Eversource, Liberty and Unitil credit supply, transmission and 25% of distribution, each on its own rates. The co-op pays 14.662 cents per kWh per exported kWh and charges $29.00 a month, so it usually runs longer: about 12.6 years in our per-utility figures, against about 9.9 at Eversource. On any utility, a supplier that pays no export credit can matter more than the utility.
Does solar increase home value in New Hampshire?
It may, but the effect at sale is uncertain, so we leave it out of the payback. The tax side is clearer: under RSA 72:62, each town decides whether to exempt solar from your assessment, and you apply by April 15. Without it, your assessment can rise.
Is a battery worth it with solar in New Hampshire?
For bill savings, rarely on default supply, because exports already earn most of the retail price. Its main use is backup. Eversource pays $230 per kWh of capacity, up to $3,000, if the battery joins its demand response program for three years. Confirm funds before you count on it.
Sources, method and corrections
The example uses the EcoGen Solar Cost Index typical New Hampshire system (September 2026) and Liberty’s rates effective August 1, 2026. Our assumptions: 40% of the solar power is used at home as it is made and 60% is sent to the grid, and owner costs are $30 per kW a year ($296 here, including a reserve for a new inverter). We read Eversource’s 19.96 cents and Unitil’s 20.63 cents export credits (5.95 and 6.28 cents with another supplier) on October 6, 2026. The Eversource and co-op paybacks are our per-utility figures of October 19, 2026: each utility’s EIA 12-month price less its monthly charge, its export credit, and the share of solar power its homes reported left over at month end (Eversource) or a modeled 40% used at home (the co-op), with no upkeep or price rises. Payback uses flat first-year values. Earlier versions used an older system size and price, a rate-growth forecast and a home-value claim; those are gone. The calculator sends nothing.
Spotted an error? Tell us through our corrections and feedback process.
- Liberty Utilities: Electricity Delivery Service Tariff NHPUC No. 23 (net metering formula, 2040 end date, Rate D rates; checked October 1, 2026)
- Community Power Coalition of New Hampshire: Net Energy Metering FAQ (no supply credit; no automatic enrollment of net metered homes; checked October 6, 2026)
- New Hampshire Electric Cooperative: Schedule of Rates effective August 1, 2026 (export credit, delivered rate, member charge)
- New Hampshire Electric Cooperative: Solar and net metering (the co-op’s own program)
- New Hampshire General Court: RSA 362-A:9, net energy metering (credit payouts; return from community power)
- New Hampshire General Court: RSA 72:62, solar property tax exemption (local option)
- Eversource: New Hampshire Clean Energy Fund home battery incentives (checked September 29, 2026)
- New Hampshire Department of Energy: residential solar rebate (permanently closed)
- U.S. EIA: average residential electricity price by state (August 2025 to July 2026)
- IRS: Residential Clean Energy Credit (ended after December 31, 2025)
- EcoGen Solar Cost Index, September 2026: what solar costs in New Hampshire (system size, price, production)
