UPDATE: Fannie Mae offers very low cost financing for new PV on homes.
My Monitor column today ponders the effect that rooftop solar has on buying and selling houses. It’s mostly anecdotal because there isn’t good data yet, especially not for New Hampshire, but you’ve got to start somewhere.
If you don’t want to click through, the answer is … no, wait, we want you to click through!
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Property taxes are another wild card, since the value of solar PV is assessed by each town. Milford just changed the way they are assessed. The increased value of the system qualifies as a property tax exemption so the bottom line for property tax purposes is installing solar does not increase the value of your property.
NH recently expanded the amount of power statewide allowed under Netmetering rules for these small systems enabling more to qualify. The same legislation requires the PUC to evaluate the impact of Netmetering. The effect if any on Netmetering is unknown; obviously if the payment rate for electricity is reduced ROI will increase.
For folks interested in installing solar as a DIY project there is a great local resource: Hillsborough Area Renewable Energy Initiative . They work on the barn raising model helping each other design and install solar. The lower cost results in much faster ROI.
http://www.harei.org/home