New York Now at 8 Gigawatts of Distributed Solar Power
Support CleanTechnica's work through a Substack subscription or on Stripe.
New York has just reached 8 gigawatts (GW) of installed solar power capacity in the “distributed” solar market — rooftops and small-scale installations. The state has a target of reaching 10 GW by 2030, and this new milestone puts them ahead of schedule. The state was at 6 GW in 2024, and installed 1.28 GW in 2025.
Furthermore, this distributed solar market has already generated $12.2 billion in private investment in the state and created 16,000+ jobs in New York.
With 276,000 projects in operation, the distributed solar market is creating enough electricity for more than 1.3 million New York homes and businesses.
Just from lowering electricity demand on the power grid during times of peak demand, solar power is estimated to have saved New York $90 million last summer. Greater savings will come this summer.
One month ago, on June 3, solar power provided the state with 29% of its electricity demand during the noon hour, a new record for New York.
“We are seeing the benefits of New York’s solar assets in real time,” says Rory Christian, chair and CEO of New York’s Public Service Commission. “Solar is reducing the strain on our electric grid, while providing significant reliability benefits especially during periods of peak demand. The milestone we are celebrating today is a win for affordability and clean energy for all New Yorkers.”
“New York continues to set the bar high as we mark another milestone for solar within our communities across the state,” Governor Kathy Hochul says. “This is low-cost, reliable clean energy that is delivering cost savings for families and businesses while expanding the availability of renewable energy which benefits our environment, our economy and contributes to New York’s diverse energy resource mix.”
“New York is home to 35% of the nation’s community solar generation — securing its position as the top community solar market in the country,” said Doreen M. Harris, president and CEO of NYSERDA. “Solar energy is one of the most reliable contributors to our state’s grid and by producing energy during peak load periods, it lowers energy costs for all New Yorkers, not just those participating in community solar.”
The NY-Sun Program in the Empire State provides incentives for solar. Governor Hochul has allocated another $200 million in New York’s 2027 budget for NY-Sun. The focus is to “help to expand New York’s solar success and continue to improve energy affordability for all New Yorkers.” In particular on that last point, NY-Sun includes a program for the less wealthy to help them enjoy the benefits of solar power: “The statewide Solar For All Program, which was initiated by the Public Service Commission in 2024 and is part of NY-Sun, is designed to automatically lower bills for low-income New Yorkers, including those that live in a disadvantaged community and are enrolled in the Energy Affordability Program. Statewide Solar for All provides eligible low-income households with free electricity bill savings by sharing the discounts generated from community solar projects.”
Sounds good to me. At a time when much of the country is struggling to stay afloat and make cleantech progress, it’s great to see New York flying forward.
Sign up for CleanTechnica's Weekly Substack for Zach and Scott's in-depth analyses and high level summaries, sign up for our daily newsletter, and follow us on Google News!
Have a tip for CleanTechnica? Want to advertise? Want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here.
Sign up for our daily newsletter for 15 new cleantech stories a day. Or sign up for our weekly one on top stories of the week if daily is too frequent.
CleanTechnica uses affiliate links. See our policy here.
CleanTechnica's Comment Policy
