A Standard Solar community solar installation in New York.
Gov. Kathy Hochul announced more than 2 GW of community solar has been installed in New York — enough to serve 393,000 homes, reaffirming the state’s position as the top community solar market in the United States. This community solar milestone contributes to 5 GW of distributed solar operating across the state, with 3.3 GW in development. This announcement demonstrates significant progress toward achieving New York’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act goal to install 6 GW of distributed solar by 2025, on the path to 10 GW by 2030.
“New York’s 2-GW community solar achievement proves our commitment to a building a clean and healthy future,” Governor Hochul said. “Our ongoing investment in community solar generates measurable benefits for our health, our environment, our economy, and for the thousands of New Yorkers who can now enjoy lower electric bills, all thanks to our ability to harness the power of the sun.”
Community solar enables access to solar for homeowners, renters and business owners who may not have ideal conditions to directly install solar panels onsite. Through this arrangement, clean energy is still delivered by a customer’s regular electric providers, and the power produced from the solar array is fed directly back into the electric grid. As the electric grid is supplied with clean, renewable energy, subscribers receive a credit on their electric bills for their portion of the solar system’s output.
To date, community solar makes up 61% of total solar installations across the state this year. In addition, New York’s distributed solar pipeline is now comprised of more than 8,700 projects, which once completed will provide 3,297 MW of clean energy, enough to power more than 600,000 New York homes. Building on this progress, in October, NYSERDA opened a second round of solicitations for the Inclusive Community Solar and Expanded Solar for All programs, which together aim to secure over 1,140 MW of community solar dedicated to low- and moderate-income (LMI) households and disadvantaged communities.
The state’s success in deploying community solar is confirmed by the latest Wood Mackenzie Solar Market Insight quarterly report, which ranks New York as the all-time national leader in installed community solar, as well as number one in 2023 for community solar installations, number two in overall distributed solar and number five for residential solar.
“New York is steadfast in its commitment to achieving our Climate Act goals, and every milestone reached is one step closer to a more reliable, equitable, zero-emissions electric grid,” said NYSERDA president and CEO Doreen M. Harris. “As the top market in the nation, community solar will continue to be a vital model to deliver clean, low-cost renewable energy to places where rooftop-mounted solar panels aren’t feasible, ensuring more New Yorkers realize the benefits of this renewable resource.”
The achievement of this milestone has been underpinned by robust support from NYSERDA’s NY-Sun program, the state’s signature $3.3 billion solar initiative. Currently, installed distributed solar projects, combined with the projects that are under development, bring the state to 83% of the current goal to install 10 GW of distributed solar by 2030.
News item from NYSERDA
