Solar in New York Becomes Mainstream

Amazing! 2013 was yet another record-shattering year for solar. According to a new report released this month by the Solar Energy Industries Association, solar photovoltaic installations increased 41% over 2012.

The continuing increase of solar in the United States is attributed to rapid consumer adoption, grassroots support, improved financing options, and public market success, the report states.

To date, just under 5,000 MW of solar have been installed in the U.S., a huge number when considering each home with solar has a system sized at around 10 kW.

So, what does this mean? Well, here at EmPower Solar, we expect even larger solar growth in our area this year. The New York City and Long Island regions are perfect places for solar to flourish both residentially and commercially.

With current rebates and incentives covering about 60% of the system cost, and numerous options to go solar for little or no money down and start saving right away, now is another perfect opportunity to go solar. However, while we expect the cost of solar to remain affordable for mass adoption, rebates and tax incentives will continue to dwindle and disappear.

The federal tax incentive, which will currently cover up to 30% of your solar system, is expected to expire in 2016; PSEG is handing over the Long Island utility rebate to the state; and the 10% property tax abatement for NYC will end at the end of this year.

There are reasons solar is growing. It works. It’s affordable. It’s a guaranteed investment.

In 2013, according to SEIA, New York installed 69.4 MW of solar, making the number of solar installations more prevalent than NYC taxi cabs.