This story was originally produced by The Keene Sentinel. NHPR is republishing it in partnership with the Granite State News Collaborative.
You don’t have to walk far in Keene to spot a home with shiny black solar panels affixed to the roof.
The city has issued more than 230 permits for solar installations since 2017. Those installations were relatively rare until 2022. From 2018 to 2022, the city issued 51 permits. Since 2022, the city has issued 180.
Those incentives were rolled back in July when President Donald Trump signed what’s known as the One Big Beautiful Bill. Experts say that rollback could make solar less appealing for some property owners, but other factors, like electric costs, could help counterbalance it.
Rapid growth
According to city data, three solar installation permits were issued in 2018. The next three years saw a slight increase, with numbers hovering in the teens, but in 2022 something changed; solar permit applications began to come in much more rapidly.
The city issued 49 permits that year, 73 in 2023 and 58 in 2024. With four months left to go in 2025, the city has already issued 48.
The Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law under President Joe Biden on Aug. 16, 2022, implemented the Residential Clean Energy Credit, equal to 30 percent of the cost of a new clean energy system.
That means that a homeowner who spent $10,000 on a solar array, solar water heater, or battery storage could be exempt from $3,000 in taxes that year, and be eligible for additional exemptions in the future.
Clean Energy N.H. Executive Director Sam Evans-Brown said the act brought a lot of attention to solar, with more interest in both residential and commercial projects throughout the state.
Spiking electricity prices in 2023 and 2024 added fuel to the fire, he said, as people sought ways to reduce their energy costs.
The growth of solar installations in Keene that has followed that act is part of a national trend of solar growth. The installed capacity of residential solar projects in the U.S. has grown by more than 19,000 megawatts since 2021.
Utility-scale solar has grown even more rapidly.
In total, there’s now enough solar capacity nationwide to power more than 41 million homes.
The city of Keene has worked to incentive that trend. In 2020, the city earned a SolSmart bronze designation from the U.S. Department of Energy program for efforts to make solar a more affordable choice for homes and businesses.
Then-Mayor George Hansel said the designation was “a testament to the shared commitment by our citizens, elected leaders, city staff, businesses, and other community partners to reach our ambitious renewable energy goals.”
The city offers a property tax exemption for solar and other renewable energy systems equal to their total assessed value. That exemption is available to both homeowners and businesses.
More information about going solar in Keene can be found at keenenh.gov/going-solar-keene.
Variables
“There’s a lot of variables involved,” when homeowners or businesses are considering going solar, according to Scott Maslansky, who directs the clean energy finance program of the Community Development Finance Authority.
Tax credits and other incentives, like the Rural Energy for America grant program for businesses, are one thing people take into account. But they also consider things like their electrical costs or whether they’re planning to get a heat pump or electric vehicle, both of which need a lot of power.
“All of those things contributed” to the growth of solar over the past few years, he said.
Maslansky said he believes many people who had been thinking about going solar for a long time jumped at the 30 percent tax credit when it became available. He installed a solar array on his own home last year, in part to take advantage of that credit.
What happens now?
The July, One Big Beautiful Bill set in motion the rollback of most of the solar incentives that the Inflation Reduction Act started. Most were set to run for at least a decade. Now, they’ll phase out over the next two years.
The solar tax credit for homeowners is set to end at the end of the year. Businesses have a little more time; projects just need to be underway by mid 2026 or completed by the end of 2027 to qualify.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced last month it won’t provide any more funding through REAP, the program that covered up to 50 percent of the cost of renewable energy projects at rural small businesses.
Maslansky said he expects to see a short-term spike in solar installations through the end of the year as people hurry to qualify for incentives before they expire.
Longer-term plans, like developments that might have been considering building solar-ready, might be more likely to change their mind, he said.
Evans-Brown said he expects a “rush for the doors” in the last quarter of 2025.
“If you’re thinking about it, now is the time to do it,” he said.
But once the incentives expire, both experts said they expect a fall-off in interest.
With the REAP program in limbo, some companies who had planned to go solar might decide it’s no longer worth it.
“That will definitely cause a drop,” Maslansky said.
But for most home and businessowners, there are still good reasons to go solar.
Rising electrical costs could make solar look more and more desirable, according to Maslansky and Evans-Brown.
If you lose a 30 percent tax credit but electric costs go up 40 percent, solar still pays for itself in the anticipated timeframe, Evans-Brown explained.
“Taking on debt for something you’re going to see pay back on makes sense,” Maslansky said.
On the other hand, tariffs could cause the price of solar equipment to go up, making it a less cost-effective option.
Both said tariffs are a big area of uncertainty, but Evans-Brown said ongoing incentives for domestic manufacturing of solar equipment could increase US manufacturing.
Keeping up
As in many other areas of the economy, things are changing rapidly in the solar industry. It can be difficult to keep up.
Maslansky recommends property owners consult Clean Energy N.H.’s webpage or speak with a solar contractor to get up-to-date information.
“You really do have to be plugged in,” Evans-Brown said. “You have to do serious research.
“One of the challenges right now is that things are changing really quickly, and it is hard to get good information.”
Connecting with a solar installer or becoming a Clean Energy N.H. member can make things easier, he said.
