Financing Solar Power in NYC
New Help for NYC Solar
New York City is now one of the most financially friendly places to install solar electric systems, thanks to a new NYC property tax abatement and legislation that enables owners of solar systems to sell back excess energy. Financial incentives can cover some 75 percent of the costs of installation.
These changes are expected to pave the way for tremendous growth in the use of solar in NYC. According to Con Edison, NYC currently has only about 85 net-metered PV (solar electric) systems totaling 1.3 megawatts (MW), but that number is expected to grow quickly. Building owners are increasingly interested in using the sun to meet their energy needs, reduce their costs, be part of the solution to our environmental crisis, and maximize the value of their property.
Financing a solar electric system
How PV works
There are two ways to use solar power: 1) for electricity, called solar electric or photovoltaic (PV), and 2) to heat hot water, known as solar thermal.
PV systems are capable of offsetting ten percent or more of the energy use in multifamily and commercial buildings when ideal conditions are present. PV systems are also most effective when the building is energy efficient. Therefore, the first steps toward purchasing solar are: 1) to make the building as energy efficient as possible and 2) to conduct a site survey to make sure the site provides ample sun.
Every day, enough sunlight falls on New York City to provide more than twice our current usage of electricity. The sun’s energy can be harnessed through solar panels consisting of many smaller photovoltaic cells that convert sunlight to electricity throughout the day as direct current (DC) power. Because all of our appliances use alternating current (AC) electricity, the electricity is converted from DC to AC through a critical piece of equipment called an inverter. Once converted, the electricity can be used as needed, or, if more than enough electricity is produced, sold back to the grid using Net Metering. Solar panels are connected together to form an array that varies in size for every building. Your installer will help determine the appropriate size system. On average, solar panels produce ten watts per square foot.
Solar panels are generally installed on the roof. On a flat roof, as is typical in the city, panels may be installed at an angle of up to 30 degrees to increase efficiency. Innovations in technology are generating new ways of installing solar panels. Building-Integrated Photovoltaic arrays (BIPV) are solar collectors that are incorporated into building materials such as roofing, facades, windows and skylights. Thin-film technology uses much less silicon, is flexible, and can be mounted on just about any surface, allowing for a whole variety of solar collecting possibilities.
Written and researched by Austin Doten
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