New Mexico pays about 14.9¢ per kilowatt-hour for residential electricity and receives about 6.2 kWh per square metre per day of sunlight — 23rd and 3rd respectively among the 50 states and DC tracked here. Those two numbers set the ceiling on what rooftop solar returns in New Mexico, and they point in the same direction.
Where New Mexico sits against the rest of the country
New Mexico is 0.1¢/kWh above the median residential rate across this dataset (14.8¢/kWh) and 1.6 kWh/m²/day above the median insolation (4.6 kWh/m²/day). Under this site's standard assumptions, that combination puts New Mexico 11th of 51 for modeled payback speed, at 10.8 years against a dataset median of 13.5 years.
What actually drives payback in New Mexico
New Mexico ranks in the upper half on both inputs — 23rd for electricity price and 3rd for sunlight. Swap New Mexico's sunlight for the dataset median and payback moves to 13.9 years (3.2 years of swing). Swap its electricity rate instead and payback moves to 10.8 years (0.1 years of swing). The sunlight swap is the larger of the two, so how much sun the roof gets is the input deciding the outcome in New Mexico.
State incentives on record
Recorded for New Mexico: New Solar Market Development Tax Credit (10% up to $6,000, subject to annual cap); gross receipts tax deduction; property tax exemption; net metering.
No federal credit is applied above (Section 25D expired 31 December 2025), and export terms often matter more than the headline rate (net metering guide).
The modeled system, in numbers
At New Mexico's sunlight level a 7 kW array produces roughly 12,356 kWh a year, worth about $1,841 in first-year bill savings at 14.9¢/kWh against an assumed $22,400 installed cost. A ten-year payback at this sunlight level would require a residential rate of about 16.2¢/kWh, which is 1.3¢ above what New Mexico households pay today.
States with comparable economics
New Mexico's closest analogues by modeled payback are Arizona (10.4 years), New York (10.2 years), New Hampshire (10.1 years). They arrive there from different rate and sunlight combinations, so their incentive rows are the useful comparison.
- Arizona — modeled payback 10.4 years
- New York — modeled payback 10.2 years
- New Hampshire — modeled payback 10.1 years