Solar in New Hampshire: how the rules work
How New Hampshire credits the power solar panels send back to the grid, what homes there pay for electricity, and what to check when a home with solar is bought or sold.
How exported power is credited
Power sent to the grid is credited at a set share of the retail rate, below what the home pays for power it buys.
New customers are on the PUC's NEM 2.0 tariff (Order in DE 16-576, in effect since Sept 2017). Exports from residential systems up to 100 kW are credited at 100% of the default energy service (supply) rate, 100% of transmission and only 25% of distribution. Non-bypassable charges such as the system benefits and stranded-cost charges are not credited, and all imports pay full delivery charges. The export credit is therefore below retail: about 75% of the import rate per the Concord Monitor, or about $0.20/kWh (about 69%) for Eversource in 2026 per a third-party guide. The 0.72 share is the midpoint of those two figures. Excess monetary credits roll forward, with a payout option. In Nov 2024 (DE 22-060) the PUC left NEM 2.0 substantively unchanged and kept the Dec 31, 2040 sunset for NEM 1.0 and 2.0 legacy terms, then opened a further process on possible changes, which is still pending. One installer blog reverses the components (100% T&D plus 25% of energy); that conflicts with the PUC-based sources. HB 1718 (signed July 10, 2026, Chapter 309; most provisions effective Jan 1, 2027) lets battery-stored renewable energy be exported and credited, with rates set later by the PUC, and does not expand net metering. NEM 1.0 systems (pre-Sept 2017) keep 1:1 retail through 2040.
What changes for a home with solar
A savings estimate that assumes full retail credit for exported power overstates the value of that power for systems on the current rules. Power used in the home still offsets the full retail rate.
Older systems are often grandfathered on earlier, better terms for a set number of years. Which rules a particular system is on depends on its interconnection date, stated in the note above.
Electricity here costs about 26.8¢ per kWh (2026) and has risen about 2.9% a year over the last decade. A lease or PPA escalator above that pace makes the solar payment rise faster than utility rates have.
When a home with solar is sold in New Hampshire
- Owned outright: proof it is paid off, the warranties, and the utility’s interconnection or net-metering agreement, which has to move into the buyer’s name.
- Loan: a payoff letter, and whether the buyer can assume the loan. Many solar loans are secured by a UCC-1 fixture filing that title will find.
- Lease or PPA: the transfer process and how long approval takes, the buyer’s credit check, the current payment or rate and its yearly increase, and a buyout quote.
- Every case: whether the export-credit terms above stay with the home after the sale, and the last 12 months of production from the monitoring app.
Have the solar contract for a New Hampshire home?
Upload it and get a letter-graded report card: price, production, payment changes, value and transfer terms, measured against New Hampshire’s rates and rules.
Grade a solar contractSources
- www.concordmonitor.com/2024/11/20/net-metering-solar-power-new-hampshire-puc-regulation-58 (2024-11-20)
- www.puc.nh.gov/VirtualFileRoom/ShowDocument.aspx?DocumentId=8086e166-1eb8-43ac-8b5f-06eb3c (2024-11)
- nuwattenergy.com/en/new-hampshire/net-metering-guide-2026 (2026)
- newhampshirebulletin.com/2026/05/20/law-including-solar-charged-batteries-in-net-metering- (2026-05-20)
- www.gc.nh.gov/bill_Status/billinfo.aspx?id=2343 (2026-07-10)
- Electricity prices: EIA Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.B (2026) and EIA state annual averages 2014–2024
- Installed price: EnergySage marketplace, September 2026