State solar profile · #12 of 51
Solar in New York: fast payback · high rates
New York clears a modeled 11.1-yr break-even (#10 of 51) at 22¢/kWh and 4.4 kWh/m²/day, with 4 DSIRE programs in the stack.
- 4.4
- kWh/m²/day irradiance
- 22¢
- avg electricity rate
- 11.1 yr
- payback (#10)
- 4
- incentive programs
EIA Form 860 nameplate strip
Nameplate NY · New York score #12/51
New York | 38/100 | 11.1 yr payback | 2.7 GW
- VS-AVG 38/100
- GW #12/51
- IRR 4.4 kWh
- STRIP 22c/kWh
- FORM860 11.1 yr
- MW 2.7 GW
- SCORE 4 programs
- RANK near Rhode Island
Stamps derive from this state's NREL irradiance, EIA Form 860 / Electric Power Monthly nameplate, and DSIRE incentive row (score, rank, sun, rate, payback, capacity, programs, peer), not a quote or site assessment. Modeled figures use a typical 6 kW system; your roof, shading, and utility tariff decide the real return. See our disclaimer. Verify with EIA Form 860 → · Read with methodology → · Net-metering guide → · Personalized estimate → · All state rows → · States ranked → · Payback vs U.S. avg (14.2 yr): 3.1 yr faster
Modeled 6 kW payback · New York and nearest peers
Shorter bars = faster simple payback on the NREL/EIA model
- AZ
Arizona
10 years
- NM
New Mexico
10 years
- NY
New York
11 years
- VT
Vermont
12 years
- TX
Texas
12 years
- NV
Nevada
12 years
What this shows New York sits at 11.1 years among nearest payback peers (3.1 yr faster vs the 14.2-yr U.S. average).
Fast-band 25-year ROI · New York
$18,900
system cost
$1,696/yr
modeled savings
11.1 yr
break-even
+$23,500
25-year net
At $18,900 and $1,696/yr, New York is already in the faster third of modeled paybacks. Roof, shading, and tariff still move the real number. Run a personalized estimate →
Installed solar capacity in New York, 2011–2024
Total solar nameplate capacity in New York reported to the EIA, utility-scale and reported distributed systems. The number of reporting facilities grew 614x (1 to 614) between 2011 and 2024, and the average site size fell from 32 MW to 4 MW per site, a shift toward smaller, more distributed installations.
New York: modest sun, still fast payback
Irradiance 4.4 kWh/m²/day (below the 4.8 national mean) vs 11.1-yr payback (fast band vs 14.2-yr mean). Crosshairs mark those means.
Solar & grid details
- Net-metering policy
- full
- Renewable portfolio standard
- Mandatory (70% by 2030)
- Installed cost / watt
- $3.15/W
- Annual production (6 kW)
- 7,709 kWh
- Installed capacity (EIA 2024)
- 2.7 GW
- Notable programs
- NY-Sun Megawatt Block Incentive, NYSERDA
Top incentive programs
4 programs available for New York residents
All New York solar incentives (4)
NY Solar Property Tax Exemption
Full exemption for 15 years
Solar energy systems added to NY properties are exempt from local property taxes for 15 years.
Tax exemptionNY Solar Sales Tax Exemption
State sales tax exemption
Solar energy equipment is exempt from New York state sales tax.
Net meteringNY Net Metering
Retail rate credit
New York offers full retail net metering for residential systems up to 25 kW.
RebateNY-Sun Megawatt Block Incentive
$0.20-$0.50/W (varies by utility)
NYSERDA NY-Sun program provides upfront incentives for residential solar.
Other fast-payback peers for New York
Two non-geographic peer sets for New York: composite score neighbors and payback-year neighbors (deduped so each row links a distinct comparison).
Similar composite solar score
Nearest nationwide matches on the NREL/EIA/DSIRE blend (38/100 here).
- Rhode Island · score 37/100
- Maine · score 36/100
- Utah · score 40/100
- Connecticut · score 41/100
Similar modeled payback
Nearest payback-year peers nationwide (11.1 yr modeled here).
- Vermont · 11.5 yr payback
- Texas · 11.8 yr payback
- Arizona · 10.3 yr payback
- New Mexico · 10.3 yr payback
Peers are nearest-neighbor matches on published composite scores and modeled 6 kW payback years; rankings above use the same fields but sort the full corpus.
Solar resource from NREL; electricity rates and installed capacity from the U.S. EIA; incentive programs from DSIRE. See our methodology.