The Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department (EMNRD) is accepting applications for the state’s Supplemental New Solar Market Development Tax Credit program. The program is for New Mexico taxpayers who were denied a solar tax credit in the years 2020 through 2023 because the program’s funding was exhausted.
“We stand ready to process those applications and support the deployment of more solar energy in the Land of Enchantment,†said Rebecca “Puck†Stair, director of EMNRD’s Energy Conservation and Management Division, in a press release.
First enacted in 2020, the New Solar Market Development Tax Credit program offers a tax credit of up to 10% on solar system installation costs for qualified solar thermal and photovoltaic systems, up to a maximum of $6,000 per taxpayer per year.
From 2020 through 2023, EMNRD was forced to reject hundreds of solar tax credit applications because the annual funding caps mandated by the Legislature were maxed out. In the 2024 legislative session, lawmakers appropriated $20 million to fund credits for taxpayers who missed out on the previous three years. The Legislature also boosted the program’s annual cap to $30 million.
EMNRD also is processing applications for taxpayers who have installed solar systems in 2024. Taxpayers can submit applications for both the supplemental and the 2024 tax credits at emnrd.nm.gov/ecmd/tax-incentives.
Since the program’s inception, more than 13,000 New Mexicans have received solar tax credits averaging $3,078.