Manchester solar runs on different rules

Exports pay less than self use

Forget the Massachusetts framing where an exported kilowatt hour is worth nearly what an avoided one is. New Hampshire's alternative net metering tariff, in effect since September 1, 2017 under Order No. 26,029, credits a small customer generator's exports at 100 percent of the energy service rate, 100 percent of transmission, and just 25 percent of distribution. The system benefits charge, stranded cost, and storm recovery components earn nothing and still apply to every imported kWh. Net excess at the end of a billing cycle becomes a monetary credit that carries forward. The design consequence is blunt: a kWh you consume behind the meter is worth more than a kWh you sell. Load timing, panel orientation toward your actual usage hours, and possibly storage all matter more in Manchester than they would 50 miles south. An installer who sizes your array on annual net zero logic imported from another state is optimizing the wrong number.

Sources: NHPUC Order 26,029, NH Department of Energy tariff overview

The exemption Manchester adopted in 2015

New Hampshire's property tax exemption is a local option, not a statewide rule. RSA 72:62 lets each city or town choose to exempt solar equipment from assessed value, and Manchester chose yes on February 3, 2015, at 100 percent of the actual assessed value of qualifying equipment. So a Manchester array does not raise the owner's tax bill, a statement you cannot make for every New Hampshire address. One lawyerly wrinkle worth knowing: because the city adopted before January 1, 2020, the older paragraph I definition in RSA 72:61 applies on its face. It names photovoltaic electricity systems but predates the 2019 language that explicitly added inverters and storage. How Manchester assessors treat a battery in practice was not confirmed by any page fetched for this research, so ask the Assessors office directly before assuming storage rides along.

Sources: Manchester Assessors, solar exemption, RSA 72:61, RSA 72:62

A permit that travels by mail

Manchester's Building Division, inside Planning and Community Development, handles plan review, permits, and inspections, reachable at 603-624-6450 or PCD@ManchesterNH.gov. The building permit side works online. The electrical side does not: the city says the application can be filled out online but must be printed, signed, and mailed with fees, after which the approved permit is mailed back, and no work should start before it arrives. Build calendar days into the project plan for a round trip through the post. Money is formula based: alterations to existing buildings are priced at estimated cost times .01, every permit carries a $25 application fee, and no solar specific line item exists on the fetched fee pages. Two staffing rules to note: a licensed NH Master electrician is required for multifamily buildings, non owner occupied single family homes, and commercial work, and final inspections must be requested five business days ahead for one and two family dwellings.

Sources: Building Division, permit applications, fee schedule

Yield on Amoskeag era housing

Our downtown Manchester run models 1308.1 kWh per kW per year, with July at 136.7 kWh per kW and December at 65.7. That lands within a few percent of our Boston area runs, so northern latitude is not the obstacle people assume. The housing is the variable. Manchester grew as a planned Amoskeag company town founded in 1838 on the Merrimack's east bank, and mill era multifamily stock still defines whole neighborhoods; the city counted 49,288 housing units at the 2010 census. Per the US Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates, 2023, 49.3 percent of households own and 40.8 percent of units are single family, healthier ownership numbers than most New England mill cities, though remember the Master electrician requirement kicks in the moment a building is multifamily or not owner occupied. January averages 25.6 degrees F here, so panel snow behavior and roof structure deserve the same scrutiny as the electrical design.

PVGIS. PVGIS v5.2 NSRDB, run by Solar Learning Lab on August 31, 2026, 30 degree tilt, 14 percent losses, downtown coordinates. Your roof will differ.

Size the savings

Source ledger

The documents below back every number on this page. Where research could not confirm an item, including the Eversource NH interconnection fee amount and assessor treatment of batteries, the page says n.a. instead of inventing a value.

• https://www.manchesternh.gov/Departments/Planning-and-Comm-Dev/Building
• https://www.manchesternh.gov/Departments/Planning-and-Comm-Dev/Building/Permit-Applications
• https://www.manchesternh.gov/Departments/Planning-and-Comm-Dev/Building/Fees
• https://www.manchesternh.gov/Departments/Assessors/Exemptions-and-Credits/Solar-Exemption
• https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/v/72/72-61.htm
• https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/v/72/72-62.htm
• https://www.puc.nh.gov/regulatory/Tariffs/Eversource-PSNH%20Tariff%20No%209.pdf
• https://www.puc.nh.gov/regulatory/orders/2017orders/26029e.pdf
• https://www.energy.nh.gov/sites/g/files/ehbemt551/files/inline-documents/sonh/net-metering-tariff-2023-overview.pdf
• https://www.communitypowernh.gov/post/statement-on-puc-ruling-in-net-metering-docket
• https://granitestatereport.com/2026/07/20/new-hampshire-electric-rates-jump-august-1-here-is-every-new-price-and-the-50-million-mistake-behind-it/
• https://www.eia.gov/electricity/sales_revenue_price/xls/table_6.xlsx
• https://nuwattenergy.com/en/new-hampshire/solar-tax-benefits-nh
• https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IN12611
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester,_New_Hampshire