I’ve met many local condominium owners who would like to go solar for their electrical power but don’t know where to begin. Not having much advice to give them, I researched how condo owners might take advantage of solar energy.

It’s a difficult process, I found. Homeowners association rules and other factors complicate the installation of solar energy systems for condos, but showing a good return on investment can help overcome those hurdles. Uncertainty over the future of New Hampshire’s net metering rules and federal tax credits for solar, however, have made ROI calculations nearly impossible.

Here’s an overview of the challenges that condo owners who want to install solar panels face. I’ll follow up with a status report on the state’s net metering rules and federal tax credits.

Condo and management company rules

Some condo associations have rules that prohibit or limit the installation of solar panels, so you need to first understand what’s allowed and why the rules were established. Others might not have any rules regarding solar, and a request for solar might prompt an association board to create rules before granting permission. Members of at least one local condo association are trying to add solar-related bylaws, according to Greg Blake of South Pack Solar.

In most cases, condo owners do not have any rights to the roof, and sometimes neither does the condo association. The maintenance company responsible for the upkeep of the building might “own” the roof; in that case, their permission will be needed before installing solar panels.

“When a condo owner would like to put solar on their roof, since they don’t own the roof, they have to get permission through the association or the maintenance company,” said Nate Bowie, vice president of residential sales at ReVision Energy. “That creates significant hurdles, and I would say 99 times out of 100, the project falls through.”

The best option to move forward might be to ask permission to investigate the feasibility of solar at the condo with no commitment to build. That will either prove that solar is not practical at the site or provide you with information needed to better make your case.

The condo structure

If the condo association gives its approval to investigate solar, you first need a professional assessment to confirm that the condominium building roof is suitable for solar. Is it properly oriented toward the sun? Can it support the weight of the solar panels, and does it have enough space?

The number of solar panels required for a condo complex ranges from 15 to 25, depending on load required and capacity of the panels. Each panel will need 17 to 20 square feet of unobstructed space. That space is further limited by other roof-mounted infrastructure, such as HVAC systems. The roof will also need two to three feet of setback space from the roof edges.

Solar installations add three to four pounds per square foot to the load on the condo roof. You have to be confident that the roof can handle this additional weight and the snow load in winter. It’s also not wise to install solar on a 20-year-old roof. Bowie noted that successful condo solar projects tend to happen when the roof is new.

Ground-mount solar is not really an option for condo owners, since they don’t own the land, said Bowie. A condo association might consider ground mount solar to help offset electricity costs for common areas, but it would not be eligible for the federal tax credit since it has no taxable income.

Net metering and future tax credit

Net metering is the billing mechanism that utilities use to compensate residential and commercial electric utility customers for the excess power they generate from solar panels or other energy-producing sources. The state-mandated net metering rate for that energy largely determines the return on investment for a solar installation.

New Hampshire’s current Net Energy Metering (NEM) 2.0 rules require utilities to credit ratepayers 14 or 18 cents per kilowatt hour, depending on volume, for the energy that their solar panels put back into the grid. Those credits considerably shorten the time to recover investment costs on a solar installation.

The New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission is working on NEM 3.0 rules. The PUC seems to be looking at recent changes to NEM rules in California and Florida. California’s NEM 3.0 reduced solar energy credits by 75%, while Republicans in the Florida state Legislature are attempting to eliminate net metering.

California is not a good model for the PUC because its NEM 2.0 provided ratepayers with a much higher credit than New Hampshire. Even with a 75% cut, the average California solar household is estimated to save $60 to $150 per month on their electric bills.

Cutting solar compensation further would endanger one option available to all condo owners -- community solar. ReVision is one company that offers a member-owned community solar model that allows residents to buy into large solar projects so they can access the benefits of clean energy, including condo owners and renters.

“Unfortunately, New Hampshire does not have a strong market for such projects because the net metering rates are so low,” says Lindsay Bourgoine, director of policy and government affairs at ReVision.

She cited a state Department of Energy study on the value of distributed energy resources in the Granite State, which showed that the state is significantly undercompensating solar projects for the value they provide.

“If rates were adjusted, there would be no unjust or unreasonable impacts on other ratepayers,” she said. “Clean energy advocates in New Hampshire continue to work hard to ask the PUC to update rates based on this independent, empirical data.”

Reports on the federal budget bill, being finalized by the Republican-led Congress at this writing, suggest that the Inflation Reduction Act might be defunded or eliminated. If that happens, the 30% tax credit for solar will be gone.

If NEM payments and tax credits are reduced or eliminated, that leaves cost savings on your electric bill as the primary or only benefit to determine ROI on a solar installation. It could add years to recovering the initial investment. Condo owners who are considering solar because of environmental concerns should continue to make their case with their condo associations. Those hoping for a financial return should wait until NEM and tax credit questions are resolved.

Michael Nadeau is a member of the Peterborough Renewable Energy Project.