Sunset over Albany
Solar Legislator Score: 
Welcome to the New York solar incentive and rebate information page. If you have any questions, our network of solar experts are on call to assist you. Simply sign up for personalized assistance on our solar group purchase page. Being part of the program will also entitle you to discounted pricing as low as $5,000/kW. This is paired with unbeatable New York Solar incentives below.
2012 update!: There’ve been some changes to the New York Solar incentives over the past while, and we’re now on top of all of them. Check out the summary below, and we’ll cover all the important points. Finally, we’ll share a sample 5kw solar system example for the Empire State.
The first point to note is the state’s superior overall grade. This results from the state legislature’s solid efforts over the previous decade to promote solar energy in the state with favorable incentives.
Performance payments: While there are no ongoing solar performance payments to report (commonly referred to as SRECs), there are significant state rebates and tax credits to take advantage of as a homeowner in New York.
State rebate: For every kilowatt of solar you install, you qualify for a rebate of $1,750 up to a maximum of $12,500. Keep in mind you may not take more than 40% of your installation costs for this rebate. For a typical 5kw system, you would get $8,750 back from the state. There are many qualified solar installers who will even take the rebate off the out of pocket cost for you so you don’t have to wait around for the check from the state. Ask your installer if they can do this for you.
State tax credit: Next up is the sizable New York solar tax credit. You simply take 25% of your total installation cost and file tax form IT-255 to receive the credit. Be mindful, there’s a cap of $5,000 on this. If you are installing a 5kw system, you’ll be due back $5,000 from the state.
Federal solar tax credit: All solar installations are eligible for a 30% tax credit from the Feds as well. You need to calculate your expenses after rebates for this one, so on our hypothetical 5kw system priced at $25,000, you can expect back $4,875 (Take $25,000, subtract the state rebate of $8,750 to arrive at $16,250… Then, take your 30% and you’ll get $4,875).
Tax exemptions: Lawmakers in New York have been doing their best to make going solar easier for residents. In addition to the above rebates and tax credits, the addition of solar panels to your home is exempt from property tax increases, even though you’ll be adding roughly 20 times your annual electricity bill savings to your property value. In the case of our 5kw example, that adds up to about $18,000 ($922 annual electricity savings multiplied by 20).
Moreover, your system is exempt from sales tax!
Utility Policies and Prices: New York has set an ambitious renewable portfolio standard with a solar carve out. This means that the state is required to derive at least 22.5% of it’s electricity from renewable sources by the year 2020. 2% of that renewable mix must come from solar. If those numbers aren’t hit, the utility companies get penalized with fees. Therefore they’re willing to offer some incentives to make their targets ahead of time.
The average price of electricity in New York is $0.16/kWh. If you were to install our hypothetical 5kW solar system, you can expect to save about $920 a year in electricity (a 5kW system in New York will generate 5,750kWh per year!)
Solar Accessibility: New York has been doing well to promote solar with a fair approach to net-metering and making connections to the grid go smoothly without a bunch of bureaucratic headaches.
5kW System Payback: As of January 2012, if you were to install a 5kW solar energy system on your house, we calculate it would pay for itself in just 6 years! Not only that, but installing that amount of solar would be equivalent to planting over 100 trees to offset your carbon emissions. See below:
Again, if you are confused about how these numbers work and would like some personalized assistance or a quote of your own, simply connect with our friends at One Block off the Grid. They’ll help sort out all the pricing, get you a group discount, and they’re super friendly to boot!
Consensus: New York Solar rebates and incentives rock! Hopefully, New York’s leaders will continue their fine work and take even greater advantage of the enormous opportunities for solar installer related jobs–not to mention environmental benefits–by continuing the rebate program through this decade and implementing performance payments across the state.
Get hooked up with the active group purchase program in New York, or get a simple customized solar quote!
is there any info that you can send me or can you tell me about rebates from the government to make the install cheaper
where do i get a list of percise rebates and incentives offered by ny state as well as LIPA?
Dear Sir/Madam, I would like to start a similar service to yours (this web site) in South Africa where we have a desperate need for energy other than our “cheap” coal. Would you be prepared to assist me with this project?
Regards, George
[...] Kips Bay project was completed under the auspices of the New York State Solar Electric Incentives Program, and qualified for a rebate that covered almost half the cost. Additional incentives, in the form [...]
Is there any reason the cost for mains electricity is so high in NY state?
shirley
I live in Rockland County, N.Y.I would like to install a solar hot water heater for my pool. Can I qualify for a grant and what are the incentives? (I am handicapped)
hi i live in staten island n.y i am interested in installing solar panels i want a 8kw system enough to get me off the grid can you tell me what all the rebates are
What about off-grid systems? Doesn;t it seem that everything is geared to helping the utilities and not the consumers? What rebates and incentives are available from New York State for off-grid systems?
[...] our New York Solar rebate page for a full breakdown and explanation of the rebates and payback, but here’s the bottom [...]
Subtract $7,050 for the 30% Federal tax credit (calculated after subtracting the State rebate)
! BUT The federal credit is limited to $2,000 see form 5695 !
That form is out of date. There is no longer a $2000 cap on the Federal Investment Tax Credit. It is 30%.
According to the LI Power Authority, the NYS tax credit is not $5,000, but “25% Residential Tax Credit on net costs for a solar electric system” UP TO $5,000. (http://www.lipower.org/efficiency/solar-home-rebates.html) Also, according to a solar contractor we’ve talked to, this is based on the net cost AFTER any power company rebates (in the case of LIPA, $3.50/watt)
Sorry for the misunderstanding, Ron. You’re right, and we’ve fixed it. However, for the example that we gave, it would not have made a difference, as the 25% of net /post rebate cost would still have been over the $5,000 cap. If you have a smaller system than 5kW, however, yes, it would have meant a lower state tax credit.
Thanks for pointing that out. We short hand things here to keep it simple, but that’s one we should have been more specific about. Hope our error didn’t keep you from going solar.
Why do most of the solar calculators out there (NYSERDA’s for one) estimate an annual electricity savings so much lower than yours? Most say the same system (5kW with regular bill of $150 per month) will save only about $300 per year. I’m hoping you are right, but you’re the exception, not the rule. Thanks.
Here’s the difference, Paul. First of all, your utility and their rate plans matter. I wrote the above example for Brooklyn, originally, but I realized that doesn’t apply to most of the state. Just NYC, because of a special tax abatement. This latest estimate is for Westchester (updated 10/21/09).
Also, most calculator parameters are set to a “Default” per watt charge and other defaults. These are usually way behind the times or are too conservative. Based on our sources, we try to give you a competitively priced example that’s in the middle, but it’s always lower than the default (higher) price.
Of course this default changes all the time. I actually wrote the NY post BASED on the NY calculator. The difference is that I changed the cost parameter to $7.50/watt (7500/kilowatt.) What you save per year is going to also be based on what you input as the your electric rate, as well as what you anticipate the rate rising over the next few years. Taxable income and marital status also affect these figures.
This is one reason why I don’t like these public calculators. You really have to know how to use them and have the right info to use them. We do our best to keep up to date as professionals, so we’re better than others. The other problem, as I said earlier, is that the rates change…but the software isn’t updated to reflect that.
In any case, I just redid my calculations using the parameters that I believe I used and I was off. I also had to update because the new rebate rates just went into effect. This may also be the difference, but I swear I didn’t pick that earlier number out of my solar butt. I just input another parameter, and I don’t remember what that is…or the NY state rate software was updated and is now giving a more conservative figure.
I’m thinking the latter because we really, REALLY try to be transparent and honest on SolarPowerRocks. In all of our posts, we simplify things, yes, so that you can understand it, but we are always honest with our figures.
As always, if you want to check our figures, get a few quotes from one of our partner installers. Bottom line, we’re human and we make mistakes or are outdated sometimes, but we’re always transparent and if we make a mistake, we’ll always cop to it and tell our readers. If we were trying to hide something, we wouldn’t have published your comment and I wouldn’t have spent the last hour updating the post. The delete button is so much easier, but that’s not how do things here at SPR.
Thanks for the question!
[...] by 10/13/09, you’ve just lost a couple of thousand dollars in NY solar rebate money. The full explanation is on our updated New York page, but the bottom line is that Solar just got a little more expensive. Want to hear another scary [...]
[...] its incentive by 50 cents per watt in October. According to Tor Valenza, a Green Inc. reader who blogs about solar, that amounts to a net reduction of roughly $1,750 for a five-kilowatt system, depending on the [...]
[...] UPDATE: PACE PASSES BY A UNANIMOUS VOTE! Thanks so much for your help in bringing the potential for no-brainer financing to the State of New York! You rock for solar, New York! [...]
I just got a Quote for a Solar PV system with a flat roof installation of amphorous tubes and crystal PV as an awning on a balcony for approximately 10 per kwt
is this a fair price in todays market.
3 story building, flat roof, third floor balcony for the solar awning.
Net metered system.
Tim,
$10 sounds high for a typical system, but it sounds like you’re doing this in a more customized way than typical. You also need racking, which is extra, and if you’re using as an awning, you’re probably paying extra for that hardware. Also don’t know about any other electrical upgrades needs you might have, which can add to the cost. So…. I would get 2 or 3 quotes to be sure.
If it were a normal, typical roof top system, without any unusual extras, it should be around $7.50/watt or $7,500/kilowatt, installed. New York is also not as competitive as other states, where it might be even less. But again, it sounds like you’ve got extras, so… might be fair. Best to get another quote and compare.
NYSERDA reduced their incentives again on 1/11/2010. Here is a link to the new incentives: http://www.powernaturally.org/publications/SummaryofRevisions101309.pdf
Thanks for the info, Steve. Essentially, for all those afraid of clicking downloads, the incentives have been chopped to $1.75/watt ($1750/kW) for residential to a maximum of 5kW. For commercial, it’s also $1750/kW but up to a 50kW system. Also, in both cases, you can’t get more than 50% of the installed cost covered by the rebate, but don’t forget you’ll also be getting the 30% Federal Tax Credit, so this is still a great deal. Thanks, NY!
Would you give an example of what a 5Kw system would power in an average home? Is that typically enough energy to heat hot water as well? Would you also be able to explain battery storage of solar? Or is storage not cost efficient yet.
Thanks for any guidance you can give.
Hi all,
I have 4, possibly 5 Residential homes in Bronx NY 10465 adjacent to each other that would be interested in getting off the grid and or profiting from the excess energy produced. If we had solar we would possibly consider heating with electric and save some or all of our oil heat bills. We all use electric for cooking at this point because we did not have gas in our neighborhood until last year.
Can you advise?
We would like to quote the four points under “NY Solar Incentives” on our forum (with a back link to this page for our readers to see the entire article) and wanted to kow if that is fine.
Were asking since it could cause duplicate content in the search engines and may also be copyrighted.
IF MY HUSBAND INSTALLS THE SOLAR PANELS HIMSELF, WOULD WE STILL QUALIFY FOR REBATES/AND OR CREDITS???
Unless he’s licensed to do the work Lisa, most probably no. The installation has to meet strict codes that are more assured with training.
I put up solar panels on my home, I went through all the proper channels and got the ok from the NYC Dept of Bldgs. Now, a year later, the DOB issued a permit to my neighbors to build their roof higher – partially blocking my solar panels. What can I do?
Do not consider any alternative energy source (solar or wind) in New York state because in 15 years your assesment will go up in amount equal to what you paid for the system before the grants and tax credits. There is no such thing as a payback. I speak from experience because this happened to me. I also was required to get a special use permit that cost me $50/year to renew for my 7.2Kw pole mounted system on my 9.5 acres of land mounted 500 feet from the road! Only in New York (sheisterville) do you get the runaround by crooks! My system was installed in June 2011. Don’t get taken by the scam!
I thought I would let anyone considering and energy source to know the truth because I was lied too.
Where can I get information about the cost of electricity by the hour (for New York State)? And yet, if I install solar panels and batteries, may I sell the stored energy?
Are flat roof solar installations more difficult, thereby more expensive? Any concern for wind being an issue with flat roof installation? And finally, would we still get all these incentives and rebates in 2012 if we went with any of the now much cheaper solar panels that are now available from China?
