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Get a Free QuoteExeter solar costs $2.90–$3.25 per watt in 2026. A typical 8 kW system runs $23,200–$26,000. Exeter sits in Unitil territoryat $0.2884/kWh all-in — the lowest of New Hampshire's four electric utilities, and within three-quarters of a cent of the highest. The rate is not what separates Exeter from its neighbours. The property-tax exemption and the town's historic district are.
Avg Cost/Watt
$3.08/W
8 kW System
~$24,600
Federal ITC
$0
Cash Payback
~8.1 yr
Federal Residential Solar Tax Credit (Section 25D) Expired December 31, 2025
Exeter homeowners who purchase solar with cash or a loan receive $0 in federal tax credits. NH state rebate was also permanently repealed (SB 303). All prices below reflect what you actually pay. PPA/lease providers can still claim Section 48/48E (30%) through July 4, 2026. Full NH solar guide
Exeter pricing reflects Unitil territory and the Seacoast market. No federal ITC, no state rebate — these are real 2026 out-of-pocket costs.
| System Size | Price Range |
|---|---|
| 5 kW | $14,500–$16,250 |
| 6 kW | $17,400–$19,500 |
| 8 kWMOST COMMON | $23,200–$26,000 |
| 10 kW | $29,000–$32,500 |
| 12 kW | $34,800–$39,000 |
Prices as of March 2026. Based on Exeter-area installer data and EnergySage NH marketplace. No federal 25D ITC ($0). No NH state rebate (SB 303). No state sales tax (NH advantage).
Exeter's Unitil territory, property tax exemption, historic district, and affluent housing stock shape the economics.
Exeter is served by Unitil Energy Systems at $0.2884/kWh all-in — the lowest of New Hampshire's four electric utilities, though only by fractions of a cent: Eversource is $0.2922, Liberty $0.291 and NHEC $0.2955. There is no cheap utility in New Hampshire. Unitil publishes a single combined delivery charge that already includes transmission, so the NEM 2.0 export split (100% energy + 100% transmission + 25% distribution) cannot be derived from its residential summary — NuWatt does not publish a Unitil export credit figure for that reason.
Exeter has adopted RSA 72:62 at town meeting, exempting solar energy systems from property tax. Your 8 kW system adds $0 to your assessed value, saving approximately $584/year based on the local mill rate.
Exeter's town center includes a significant historic district from the Revolutionary War era. Homes in the historic district may require Historic District Commission approval for visible solar installations. Ground-mount or rear-facing arrays are common solutions. Newer suburbs on the outskirts face no such restrictions.
New Hampshire has no state sales tax at all. Unlike MA (6.25%) or CT (6.35%), you pay zero sales tax on solar equipment and installation. This saves $1,500+ compared to neighboring states on a typical system.
Exeter's high home values — driven in part by Phillips Exeter Academy and the Seacoast location — support strong solar investment returns. Higher property values mean the tax exemption (RSA 72:62) provides even greater relative savings.
Exeter is eligible for the Community Power Coalition of NH (CPCNH). Community Power can lower the supply portion of your bill by 5-15%. Solar customers still get NEM credits through Unitil for delivery and transmission.
How an 8 kW cash-purchased system pays back in Exeter with no federal credit and no state rebate. Note that Unitil's rate is marginally the lowest in the state, so the utility is a small negative here, not the advantage older versions of this page claimed.
Third-Party Ownership (TPO) Still Has the ITC
If you go with a PPA or lease, the financing company claims Section 48/48E (30%) on systems beginning construction before July 4, 2026. You get a lower monthly rate because of it. You do not own the system and NEM credits typically go to the system owner.
Exeter itself is absent from NREL's SolarTRACE permitting dataset — it did not clear the minimum recorded install volume in any published year, and this page is not going to manufacture a median to fill the space. What the file does contain, for Exeter's own county, is something no other New Hampshire county produces.
New Hampshire has four electric utilities. Exeter's Rockingham County neighbours in the file are served by all 4 of them: Brentwood and Newmarket on Eversource, Derry on Eversource andthe New Hampshire Electric Cooperative, Newton on Unitil, Salem on Liberty. Every other county represented in the file carries at most two. Inside Exeter's own county, the rate schedule, the export-credit basis, the interconnection paperwork and even whether Community Power aggregation is on the table all change from town to town.
| Rockingham jurisdiction | Serving utility | Cohort | Permit | Inspection | Final IX to PTO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brentwood | Eversource | 2022 (10) | not reported | 8.5 d | 6 d |
| Derry | NHEC | 2023 (18) | 5 d | 10 d | 17 d |
| Derry | Eversource | 2023 (18) | 5 d | 10 d | 6 d |
| Newmarket | Eversource | 2022 (21) | 14 d | 6 d | 6 d |
| Newton | Unitil | 2022 (12) | 9 d | 21 d | 4 d |
| Salem | Liberty | 2023 (10) | 5 d | not reported | 9 d |
| Exeter | Unitil | below threshold | not reported | not reported | not reported |
| New Hampshire statewide | all | 2024 (308) | 11 d | 10 d | 4 d |
Derry appears twice because two utilities serve it. Same code office, same inspectors, same permit median — and a close-out to permission to operate that differs by a factor of nearly three depending on which company owns the pole. That is the sharpest illustration in the New Hampshire file that the utility, not the town, is what determines the tail end of a project. It is also why an Exeter quote built on a neighbour's timeline is worth very little.
The county's rows are drawn from cohort years 2022, 2023— and Eversource's pre-install interconnection review has moved hard across those years: 20 d in 2022, 15 d in 2023, 1 d in 2024. So the utility-side numbers in the table above are not what a project started today would see. The municipal columns age much more slowly; the utility columns should be read from the newest cohort, not from the row's own year.
Exeter is Unitil territory — the New Hampshire seacoast system that descends from the old Exeter & Hampton Electric Company. But the four New Hampshire rates sit within three-quarters of a cent of each other, so switching utilities would barely move a bill. What genuinely differs between them is the export side: Eversource and Liberty publish tariff components that let the NEM 2.0 credit be derived, NHEC publishes its export rates outright, and Unitil folds transmission into a single delivery charge so the split cannot be recovered from its residential summary. That is the real asymmetry a Seacoast homeowner faces, and it is a disclosure difference rather than a price difference.
Source: NREL SolarTRACE Dataset v9-9-2025 (data.nlr.gov), median timelines for 0-10kW residential PV. County attribution is stated by NuWatt; SolarTRACE names authorities having jurisdiction, not counties. Rate figures are from each utility's own published tariff, verified 2026-08-04.
All four New Hampshire rates sit inside a three-quarters-of-a-cent band, so the utility is close to irrelevant to this comparison. What actually moves the numbers between these towns is installed price per watt and whether the town has adopted the RSA 72:62 property-tax exemption.
| City | Cost/W | Prop Tax Exempt |
|---|---|---|
| ExeterYOU ARE HERE | $2.90-$3.25/W | Yes |
| Hampton | $2.95-$3.30/W | Yes |
| Dover | $2.80-$3.15/W | No |
| Portsmouth | $2.95-$3.30/W | Yes |
Exeter and Hampton share Unitil's $0.2884/kWh all-in rate; Dover and Portsmouth are on Eversource at $0.2922. Eversource's NEM 2.0 export credit derives to $0.2014/kWh from its published tariff components; Unitil's does not derive from its published summary and is deliberately left unquoted here. Dover lacks the RSA 72:62 property tax exemption, which is the single largest difference in this table.
Exeter was the Revolutionary War capital of New Hampshire. The town center has a significant historic district that may affect solar installation planning.
Standard residential solar permits in Exeter take 2-3 weeks. Historic district homes may add 1-2 weeks for commission review.
Your installer submits plans to the Exeter Building Department. Standard residential solar permits include structural and electrical drawings. Typical processing: 1-2 weeks. Historic district properties may also need HDC review.
Physical installation of panels, inverter, and electrical connections. Most Exeter homes with standard roofs are completed in 1-2 days. Older colonial homes may need roof reinforcement or panel upgrades.
Exeter electrical inspector signs off on the installation. Typically scheduled within 1 week of completion.
NEM 2.0 enrollment and bi-directional meter installation. Takes 2-4 weeks after passing inspection. Your installer submits the interconnection application to Unitil.
Total timeline: 5-8 weeks from signed contract to system activation. Historic district properties may take 7-10 weeks due to additional commission review.
Three paths to solar in Exeter. Each has different economics now that the federal credit is gone.
~$24,600 upfront. All NEM credits and property tax savings go to you. Best long-term value with ~8.1-year payback.
25-year savings: ~$79,337
$0 down, 6-8% APR typical. You own the system and keep NEM credits. Monthly payments $190-$270 for 15-20 year terms. NH has no special subsidized loan program.
Total cost with interest: ~$34K-$42K
$0 down. Financing company claims 48/48E (30%) — deadline July 4, 2026. You get reduced electricity cost. You do not own the system.
Monthly: ~$120-$180 (fixed PPA rate)
Solar panels in Exeter NH cost $2.90-$3.25 per watt installed in 2026, averaging about $3.08/W. For a typical 8 kW system, that is $23,200-$26,000 with an average of $24,600. There is no federal tax credit (25D expired December 31, 2025) and no NH state rebate (SB 303 repealed it). The price you see is the price you pay.
Yes. Exeter has adopted RSA 72:62, which exempts solar energy systems from local property tax assessment. Your solar system adds $0 to your assessed home value. This saves approximately $584 per year based on a typical 8 kW system adding ~$15,000 in value at Exeter mill rates. This is a permanent exemption with no expiration.
Unitil Energy Systems, whose New Hampshire seacoast territory descends from the old Exeter & Hampton Electric Company. Unitil's all-in bundled residential rate is $0.2884/kWh, verified against its own published rate sheet effective August 1, 2026 — the lowest of New Hampshire's four electric utilities, but only just: Eversource is $0.2922, Liberty $0.291 and NHEC $0.2955. On the export side, Unitil publishes a single combined delivery charge that its own glossary says already includes transmission, which means the NEM 2.0 formula (100% energy + 100% transmission + 25% distribution) cannot be separated out of its residential summary. NuWatt therefore publishes no Unitil export credit rate rather than estimating one. Credits roll over monthly under NEM 2.0, and the NEM 2.0 framework itself runs to January 1, 2041 under NH PUC Docket DE 16-576.
Yes, but with potential additional steps. Exeter's town center has a significant historic district dating to the Revolutionary War era. If your property is within the Historic District, you may need Historic District Commission approval for visible solar installations. Common solutions include rear-facing roof arrays (not visible from the street), ground-mount systems in backyards, or all-black panels that blend with roofing. Homes outside the historic district — in newer subdivisions and suburban areas — face no additional restrictions beyond standard building permits.
No, if you buy with cash or a loan. Section 25D (the 30% residential solar ITC) expired December 31, 2025. However, if you go with a third-party owned system (PPA or lease), the financing company can still claim Section 48/48E (30%) on systems that begin construction before July 4, 2026. The TPO provider passes some of that savings to you as a lower rate.
The federal dataset cannot tell you. NREL's SolarTRACE file names 17 New Hampshire jurisdiction rows and Exeter is not among them — it sits below the dataset's recorded-install threshold. What the file does give you is Exeter's own county: Brentwood, Derry, Newmarket, Newton and Salem all appear, with permit medians ranging from 5 to 14 days and inspection medians from 6 to 21. Note also that those Rockingham rows come from 2022 and 2023 cohorts, which are the oldest in the New Hampshire file, so their utility-side numbers are well out of date.
Because Rockingham County is where all four of New Hampshire's electric utilities meet. In the federal SolarTRACE file it is the only county carrying rows for Eversource, the New Hampshire Electric Cooperative, Unitil and Liberty — Derry alone appears twice because two of them serve it. Exeter is Unitil, on the seacoast system that descends from the old Exeter & Hampton Electric Company. The practical consequence is small on price, because the four all-in rates sit inside a three-quarters-of-a-cent band ($0.2884 Unitil, $0.291 Liberty, $0.2922 Eversource, $0.2955 NHEC), and larger on paperwork: interconnection applications, export credit terms and Community Power eligibility are all set per utility.
Statewide costs, NEM 2.0, and payback analysis
Eversource territory, seacoast premium, $2.95-$3.30/W
Largest NH city, best installer competition, $2.85-$3.20/W
Compare NH utility rates and NEM credits for solar
NEM 2.0 credits, rollover rules, and 2041 lock
Compare financing options after ITC expiration
See exactly what solar costs for your Exeter home. We factor in Unitil rates, NEM 2.0 credits, property tax exemption, historic district considerations, and your roof. No ITC padding — just real 2026 numbers.
Serving Exeter, Hampton Falls, Stratham, Newfields, and the NH Seacoast