New Mexico residential solar energy incentives

Solar market development tax credit
- This incentive allows New Mexico to provide a 10% personal income tax credit of up to $9,000 for residents who purchase and install qualified photovoltaic and solar thermal systems.
- Approved systems include off-grid and grid-tied residential PV systems and active solar hot water or hot air systems.
  - Systems must be certified by the New Mexico Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources Department.
  - Solar pool or hot tub heaters are not eligible for this tax credit.
- Credits may be carried forward for a maximum of ten taxable years.
Personal renewable energy production tax credit
- The New Mexico renewable energy production tax credit provides a tax credit against the personal income tax.
  - Companies that generate electricity from solar energy receive a tax incentive that varies yearly with an annual average incentive of about 2.7¢/kWh.
- Eligible solar technologies include solar thermal electric and photovoltaics.
- The tax credit is applicable only to the first 200,000 megawatt-hours of electricity in each taxable year.
- Energy generators must have a capacity of at least 1 megawatt and be installed before January 2018 to qualify
- Systems must be in compliance with all applicable performance and safety standards.
El Paso Electric Company - small system renewable energy certificate purchase program
- This program allows El Paso Electric to purchase renewable energy certificates from its customers who install photovoltaic systems up to 10 kilowatts in capacity.
- These renewable energy certificates are bought at a rate of $0.13 per kilowatt-hour for a 12 year period.
  - REC purchase payments will appear as a credit on the customer's monthly bill.
  - Any credit balance up to $30.00 will be applied to the following month's bill. Once the rolling credit exceeds $30.00 a direct payment will be made to the customer.
- Eligible systems must be connected to the utility's grid and net-metered and have a maximum system capacity of 10 kW AC.
Xcel Energy – solar rewards program
- Through the solar rewards program Xcel Energy purchases renewable energy credits from its customers.
- For renewable energy credits, Xcel will pay $0.20 per kilowatt-hour for new photovoltaic systems between 0.5 kilowatt and 100 kilowatt AC.
  - Depending on the size of the system, customers will receive payments for a various amount of years. Small systems will receive payments for the first 14 years and medium systems will receive payments for 10 years.
- Qualifying PV systems must carry a five year warranty that covers parts and labor from the manufacturer and installer.
- Participating PV systems will be net-metered and must have a separate production meter installed to ensure energy output. The output will be measured each month and will be paid in the form of a bill credit.
  - A check will be issued to the customer if the total credit amount is $50 or over.
Residential renewable energy tax credit
- This federal personal tax credit allows the taxpayer to claim a credit of 30% of expenditures including labor costs and installation of qualified residential solar-electric systems, solar water heating systems or fuel cells. Small wind-energy systems and geothermal heat pumps can also be accredited for.
- Solar-electric systems and solar water heaters have a maximum incentive of $2,000 if placed in service before 2009. There is no maximum incentive for systems placed after 2008.
- The excess amount of the federal tax credit may be carried forward to the next taxable year if it exceeds tax liability.
  - This can be carried forward until 2016, but after that, it is unknown if the unused credit will be able to be forwarded.
Residential energy conservation subsidy exclusion
- This is a personal exemption of 100% of energy conservation subsidies provided by public utilities.
- The value of a purchase or installation of any energy conservation measure by a customer such as solar water heat, solar space heat or photovoltaics will not be included in the customer’s gross income.
- Customers of an electric utility company, who participate in the utility’s energy conservation program, may receive a rate reduction of electricity furnished or a nonrefundable credit against the purchase price of the electricity on each monthly electric bill.
Energy-Efficient Mortgages
- This is a federal loan program where homeowners can use EEM (energy-efficient mortgages) to finance renewable energy technologies in a home.