The Granite state, New Hampshire, is a beautiful, verdant northeastern state renowned for its skiing, covered bridges and gorgeous autumns with a sea of colors. It’s also home to some of the strongest winds in the world. And despite its northern location, the state still sports enough sun to justify installing solar power.
The state already derives about 10 percent of its energy from renewable sources. That percentage will increase as utilities in the state add more renewables into their energy mix to comply with its renewable portfolio standard (RPS), requiring utilities in the state to source 25 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2025. As such, the state and its utilities offer some decent discounts to encourage residents and businesses to install solar and other renewable energy on their homes and buildings. In addition to the incentives outlined here, check with local utilities about other incentive opportunities.
New Hampshire’s southern region gets just shy of 4.5 kilowatt hours of sun per square meter per day, while its northwestern gets nearly 4 kWh of sun per square meter per day. It’s far less than some other states like Arizona, but still enough to warrant a solar installation.
However, solar systems in New Hampshire should be sized to compensate for the lower levels of sunlight. The DOE’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) stated that New Hampshire also has potential for other types of renewable energy generation, including wind, wood and biomass. Given that New Hampshire is home to one of the windiest places in the world, Mount Washington—where wind speeds have reached 231 miles an hour—the potential for wind generation in the state is strong.
While 10 percent of New Hampshire’s electric needs come from renewables, the majority still comes from a nuclear generator and two large natural gas-fired power plants, which collectively provide about 75 percent of the state’s energy needs. EIA stated that overall electric use in the state is relatively low because there’s little need for air conditioning in the state’s cool summers and most buildings use fuel oil for heating their homes in the winter.
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