Concord homeowners sit in a spot that is a little different from the rest of New Hampshire. The state capital is mostly served by Unitil, not Eversource, its electric rates are among the highest in the country, and the city has already adopted a local property-tax break that shields solar from a bigger tax bill. The federal picture changed too: the 30% homeowner tax credit ended after 2025. So the real question for 2026 is not whether the credit is coming back, it is what solar actually pays here now, on your Unitil bill, with the incentives Concord still has. This page walks through the payback math for a typical Concord home, how New Hampshire’s net metering credits your exports, the incentives that survived, and the local permitting to plan around.
According to MySolarFY’s analysis (July 2026), a typical 6 kW rooftop system in Concord (ZIP 03301) produces about 7,527 kWh a year (NREL PVWatts), which at New Hampshire’s residential rate of about 26.9 cents per kWh (EIA, March 2026) trims roughly $1,800 to $2,000 a year off an electric bill. Against a typical installed price of about $15,600 to $19,200 before financing, that is an estimated simple payback of about 8 to 11 years on a cash system, then largely free power for the panels’ remaining life. Your own number depends on your roof, usage, and utility.
- New Hampshire residential electricity rate: about 26.9 cents per kWh, as of March 2026 (EIA).
- Estimated production, typical 6 kW system in ZIP 03301: about 7,527 kWh per year (NREL PVWatts v8).
- Estimated simple payback, cash system: about 8 to 11 years (MySolarFY analysis, July 2026).
- Concord local property-tax exemption on qualifying solar: 100% of the system’s assessed value (City of Concord, as of 2026).
- Federal residential solar tax credit (Section 25D): ended for systems placed in service after December 31, 2025 (IRS).
Why Concord’s Unitil rates make solar worth the look
The reason solar pays in Concord is the price of the power it replaces. New Hampshire residential electricity averages about 26.9 cents per kWh (EIA, as of March 2026), well above the national average, and Unitil’s Concord-area customers sit in that high range. Every kilowatt-hour your roof makes offsets one you would otherwise buy at that rate, so a Concord home spending $150 or more a month on electricity is a strong solar candidate. For the exact cents on your own bill, read the supply and delivery lines on your Unitil statement, since both reset on a schedule.
Your production is what turns that high rate into savings. A typical 6 kW system in Concord’s ZIP 03301 is estimated to make about 7,527 kWh a year (NREL PVWatts, as of 2026), which is normal for New Hampshire’s latitude and sun. Output depends on your roof’s pitch, shading, and orientation, and Concord winters mean snow cover on the panels for part of the year, so estimate your specific roof with NREL’s free PVWatts calculator rather than a generic number. Your production drives your net-metering credits, so it is worth getting right before you size a system.
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Is solar worth it in Concord? Here is the payback math
For most owner-occupied Concord homes with decent sun, yes, though the math is longer than it was before 2026. The federal credit that used to knock 30% off the price ended after December 31, 2025 (IRS, as of 2026), so a 2026 cash buyer pays the full sticker and the payback stretches out. Even so, Concord’s high Unitil rate and the local property-tax exemption keep the numbers reasonable. The table below is our own estimate for a typical Concord home, built from the rate and production figures above so you can follow the math and swap in your own numbers.
| Input we used | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Typical system size | 6 kW | Standard residential |
| Estimated annual production | 7,527 kWh | NREL PVWatts v8, ZIP 03301 |
| New Hampshire residential rate | about 26.9 cents/kWh | EIA, March 2026 |
| Net-metering treatment of exports | roughly 85% of retail (varies by utility) | NH PUC successor tariff |
| Typical installed cost before financing | about $15,600 to $19,200 ($2.60 to $3.20 per watt) | Market range, estimate |
| Our estimate for a typical Concord home | Result |
|---|---|
| First-year bill offset | about $1,800 to $2,000 |
| Estimated simple payback, cash system | about 8 to 11 years |
| Estimated 25-year bill savings (rate held flat, conservative) | about $45,000 to $50,000 |
Read the payback as a range, not a promise. At full retail the 7,527 kWh is worth about $2,026 a year (7,527 times $0.269), and because New Hampshire credits exports at somewhat below full retail, we estimate the real first-year offset at about $1,800 to $2,000. Divide a typical installed cost by that yearly saving and you land near 8 to 11 years to break even, after which the panels keep producing for their warrantied life, usually 25 years or more. The 25-year savings figure is deliberately conservative: it assumes roughly 0.5% per year of panel degradation and holds the electricity rate flat, so if your rate rises over time, which New England rates have tended to do, both the payback and the lifetime savings improve on these numbers. The installed-cost range reflects typical New Hampshire pricing of about $2.60 to $3.20 per watt before financing; see our data and methodology for how we build these estimates. To weigh ownership against financing now that the 30% federal residential credit has ended for systems placed in service after December 31, 2025, see our guide to what the federal solar tax credit change means in 2026.
Your Concord utility is mostly Unitil, and that matters
Most of Concord is Unitil territory, which sets it apart from New Hampshire’s Eversource cities. Nearly all of the city is served by Unitil (Unitil Energy Systems, the former Concord Electric Company) for electricity delivery, and only a small number of Concord accounts fall inside Eversource’s territory (Unitil service areas, as of 2026). Because the serving utility runs your net metering and your interconnection, the first thing to do is check the utility name printed at the top of your electric bill: if it says Unitil Energy Systems you are on Unitil, and if it says Eversource you are in one of the Eversource pockets. Our Unitil New Hampshire solar guide covers Unitil’s side in depth, and the Eversource New Hampshire guide covers the other.
Check your bill first. Concord is a split-utility city. The programs work the same way under the state’s net-metering rules, but your interconnection application and your monthly credits go through whichever utility is named on your bill. Confirm it before you sign anything.
One Concord wrinkle worth knowing: the city runs its own electricity supply program. Concord Community Power, the city’s municipal aggregation, sets the supply portion of many residents’ bills, but Unitil (or Eversource, in those pockets) still handles delivery and net metering, so your solar credits work the same whether you take Community Power supply or a competitive supplier (City of Concord, as of 2026). The high delivered rate is what drives the payback either way. For a nearby comparison, see how the numbers look in Manchester and Nashua, and how they roll up across the New Hampshire solar guide.
How New Hampshire net metering credits the power your roof sends back
New Hampshire does not pay full 1-for-1 retail for your exports, and knowing that up front changes how you size a system. Under the state’s successor net-metering tariff, set by New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission Order No. 26,029, the power your panels send to the grid is credited at 100% of the supply charge, 100% of the transmission charge, and 25% of the distribution charge (NH PUC Order 26,029, as of 2026). Because the distribution piece is only partly credited, the effective value of an exported kilowatt-hour works out to somewhat below full retail, in the neighborhood of 85% depending on your utility and the month. This is sometimes loosely called “NEM 2.0,” but New Hampshire’s own term is the successor net-metering tariff.
What this means in practice is simple: use more of your own power and export less. Energy you use in the house as the panels make it offsets electricity at the full retail rate, while energy you send back earns the slightly reduced credit. So a system sized close to your annual usage, rather than oversized, captures the most value, and pairing solar with a battery, an EV, or heat pumps that shift your usage into daylight hours squeezes more out of every kilowatt-hour. Existing net-metered customers were grandfathered under the earlier terms when the successor tariff took effect. For the full mechanics and the group net-metering option, see our New Hampshire net metering guide.
What incentives Concord homeowners can still use in 2026
The federal credit is gone and New Hampshire’s rebate is closed, but Concord’s own property-tax exemption is very much alive. This is where Concord is genuinely different from most of the country: the state has no sales tax and no rebate, but the city has adopted a local exemption that keeps solar from raising your property-tax bill. Here is what applies to a Concord home today.
| Incentive | What it does for a Concord homeowner | Status in 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Concord local property-tax exemption (RSA 72:61/72:62) | Exempts 100% of the qualifying solar system’s assessed value from local property tax, so adding panels does not raise your property-tax bill (City of Concord) | Active; file state form PA-29 with the Concord Assessing Department by April 15, system operational by April 1 |
| New Hampshire sales tax | No state sales tax exists, so your solar equipment and installation are never taxed (EIA / state) | Structural; nothing to apply for |
| New Hampshire residential solar rebate | A former $0.20-per-watt rebate (up to $1,000) | Closed; New Hampshire’s residential solar rebate is not available for new projects in 2026. The state rebate program stopped accepting new applications and remains closed, so confirm current status at the NH Department of Energy |
| Federal residential credit (Section 25D) | Was 30% of system cost for the homeowner | Ended for systems placed in service after December 31, 2025 (IRS) |
The property-tax exemption is the one to act on, and it has a deadline. Concord has adopted the exemption under RSA 72:61 and 72:62, and it removes 100% of the assessed value of the qualifying solar equipment from your local property tax, so the value your panels add to your home does not show up as a higher tax bill (City of Concord, as of 2026). To claim it you must own the property and the equipment, the system must be operational as of April 1, and you file state form PA-29 with the Concord Assessing Department by April 15. Miss the date and you wait a year, so put it on your calendar the moment your system is running.
Note: New Hampshire also has no state income tax on wages, which means there is no state income-tax credit for solar the way some states offer. That is not a loss so much as a fact of the tax system here: your savings come from the bill offset, the property-tax exemption, and the fact that your equipment is never sales-taxed, not from a state credit. Do not budget for a New Hampshire state solar credit, because there is not one. MySolarFY does not provide tax advice; confirm your own situation with a tax professional.
What the federal tax-credit change means for a Concord buyer
The federal homeowner credit is gone, but the local case did not disappear with it. The 30% federal Residential Clean Energy Credit (Section 25D) ended for systems placed in service after December 31, 2025, under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, so a Concord homeowner who buys solar with cash or a loan in 2026 cannot claim it (IRS; SEIA, as of 2026). You will still see installer pages and search results asking whether the 30% credit is coming back; the accurate answer for 2026 is that the homeowner version already ended. What did not change is Concord’s high electric rate, the state’s net metering, and the local property-tax exemption, which together still carry the payback. For the full timeline, see what the federal solar tax credit change means in 2026.
One federal exception exists, and it is not yours to claim. A separate commercial credit, Section 48E, is claimed by the business that owns a leased or power-purchase-agreement (PPA) system, not by the homeowner (IRS, as of 2026). On a leased system you do not file for a federal credit yourself; the company that owns the panels does, and that is one reason a lease quote can look attractive. The 25D homeowner credit, by contrast, ended after December 31, 2025.
Permitting and roof notes for a Concord install
Concord runs a normal municipal permitting process, and a good installer handles it for you. A rooftop or ground-mounted solar system in Concord needs a building permit plus a separate electrical permit, and a roof-mount install typically needs an array layout and structural verification, while a ground-mount needs a site layout plan (City of Concord PV solar guidance, as of 2026). None of this is unusual, and a licensed local installer prepares the drawings and pulls the permits as part of the job, then coordinates the interconnection and the Permission to Operate with Unitil.
A couple of Concord-specific things to raise with your installer. Homes in and around the historic State House district and the older downtown neighborhoods may sit in areas with design-review sensitivity, so ask whether your street has any historic or design overlay before you assume a standard install, and favor low-profile, all-black hardware if street visibility is a concern. Concord’s real winters also mean snow load and snow shedding matter, so a proper structural check and a roof pitch that sheds snow help your production and your roof both. An installer who works in Concord regularly will know the local review steps and the Unitil interconnection paperwork.
How to choose a solar installer in Concord
Concord and the greater Capital region have a healthy mix of local New Hampshire installers and regional companies, which is good for you because it means real competition on price and service. Rather than chasing a “best installer” list, screen any company against objective criteria:
- NABCEP certification, the industry’s professional standard for solar installers.
- A valid New Hampshire electrical license and proper local business registration.
- A clear workmanship and equipment warranty in writing.
- Real experience with Unitil interconnection and Concord permitting, including the local property-tax exemption paperwork, so your Permission to Operate and your PA-29 filing both go smoothly.
- A written production estimate and a transparent quote that reflects today’s rules and today’s incentives, not an offer that quietly assumes an incentive that has already expired. To learn how we work and where our numbers come from, see how MySolarFY works and our data and methodology.
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Frequently asked questions
Are solar panels worth it in Concord, NH in 2026? For most owner-occupied Concord homes with decent sun, yes, though the payback is longer now that the federal credit has ended. New Hampshire residential electricity averages about 26.9 cents per kWh (EIA, as of March 2026), among the highest in the country, and a typical 6 kW system in ZIP 03301 makes about 7,527 kWh a year (NREL PVWatts), so we estimate a first-year bill offset of about $1,800 to $2,000 and a simple payback near 8 to 11 years on a cash system. Concord’s local property-tax exemption and the absence of any sales tax help the case. Savings are not guaranteed and depend on your roof, usage, and utility.
Can you get solar panels in New Hampshire at no cost? Solar panels are not free, and any ad that promises “free solar” is not free equipment, it is usually a lease or a power-purchase agreement (PPA). Under a lease or PPA a company installs panels at no up-front cost where you qualify, and you pay for the power or rent the system over 20 to 25 years, while that company keeps the tax benefits. It can still lower your bill, but it is financing, not a giveaway. If you want to own the system and keep its value, a cash purchase or a solar loan is the path.
Why would my electric bill still be high after going solar? A few reasons, and none of them mean solar failed. You still pay a fixed monthly customer charge to Unitil no matter how much you generate, your system may be sized to cover only part of your usage, and New Hampshire credits your exports at somewhat below full retail, so a heavily export-reliant month is worth a little less than a self-consumed one (NH PUC Order 26,029, as of 2026). Winter production also drops with shorter days and snow cover. Sizing your system to your actual annual usage and shifting big loads into daylight hours keeps your bill as low as the system allows.
Who is my electric utility for solar in Concord? Almost certainly Unitil (Unitil Energy Systems, the former Concord Electric Company), which serves nearly all of Concord, though a small number of city accounts are on Eversource (Unitil service areas, as of 2026). Check the name at the top of your electric bill to be sure, because your net metering and interconnection run through whichever utility serves your address. If your supply comes through Concord Community Power, that only sets the supply rate; your utility still handles delivery and the solar credits.
Does Concord have a solar property-tax exemption? Yes. Concord has adopted the local exemption under RSA 72:61 and 72:62, which removes 100% of the assessed value of a qualifying solar system from your local property tax, so adding panels does not raise your property-tax bill (City of Concord, as of 2026). To claim it you must own the property and the equipment, the system must be operational by April 1, and you file state form PA-29 with the Concord Assessing Department by April 15. It is one of the few solar incentives that is both still active and specific to Concord, so do not miss the deadline.
Did New Hampshire’s solar rebate go away? Yes, for new projects. New Hampshire’s residential solar rebate, worth about $0.20 per watt up to $1,000, is not available for new projects in 2026 because the state rebate program is closed to new applications, so confirm its current status at the NH Department of Energy (as of 2026). New Hampshire also has no state income tax on wages, so there is no state income-tax credit for solar. Your savings in 2026 come from the bill offset, the fact that solar equipment is never sales-taxed here, and Concord’s local property-tax exemption, not from a state rebate or credit.
Can I get solar with no up-front cost in Concord? Some homeowners can, through a lease or PPA where they qualify, which can mean no out-of-pocket cost at installation in exchange for monthly payments. This is not free solar; it is a long-term agreement, typically 20 to 25 years, and total payments may exceed the cost of a cash purchase. On a lease or PPA the company that owns the system, not you, keeps the federal commercial credit and the depreciation. If you would rather own the system and capture the property-tax exemption and the full bill savings yourself, a cash purchase or a solar loan is the path that keeps them. Check what you qualify for before deciding.
Reviewed by the SolarFY Editor. Figures were verified against the linked EIA, NREL PVWatts, New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission, New Hampshire Department of Energy, City of Concord, and IRS sources as of July 2026. Net-metering credit values, the local property-tax exemption terms, and Concord permitting can change, so confirm current terms with your utility, the City of Concord, and the state before you decide. MySolarFY does not provide tax or financial advice; consult a licensed professional about your own situation. Learn more about how MySolarFY works and our data and methodology.
MySolarFY is a free service that matches homeowners with licensed solar installers. We are not an installer, financing company, tax advisor, or government program. “No up-front cost” refers to qualifying lease or PPA financing, where eligible homeowners may have no out-of-pocket cost at installation. Lease and PPA terms typically run 20 to 25 years, may include an annual price escalator, and total payments may exceed the cost of a cash purchase; on a lease or PPA the tax benefits go to the company that owns the system, not the homeowner. The federal residential solar credit (Section 25D) ended for systems placed in service after December 31, 2025. Solar panels are not free and monthly payments apply. Eligibility, savings, incentives, and rates vary and are not guaranteed. See our full disclaimer.