Solar panels in New York

Modelled output of a 6 kWp system at 35° facing south (towards the equator), from PVGIS climate data (PVGIS-ERA5, 2005 to 2023).

• Best month: March (783 kWh). Weakest: December (492 kWh), a 1.6x difference.
• March, April, July produce 28.6% of the year; January, November, December produce 20.2%.
• Year-to-year variation: about 220 kWh (2.7%, one standard deviation).
• Sunlight reaching the panels: 1,757 kWh per m² a year.

Rules set by the city or its region, on top of the national scheme. Each one was checked against the official source on the date shown.

• New York State

  NY State solar energy system equipment credit

  New York State offers a personal income tax credit of 25% of qualified solar equipment costs for a system at your principal residence in the state, capped at $5,000. The credit is not refundable, but unused credit can be carried forward for up to five years.

  Source: New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, Solar Energy System Equipment Credit (checked 2026-09-25)

• City of New York

  Solar Electric Generating System (SEGS) property tax abatement

  New York City offers a property tax abatement for solar on eligible tax class 1, 2 and 4 properties. For systems with a service start date from 1 January 2024 through 1 January 2035 the abatement is 7.5% of installation cost, limited to the annual property tax or $62,500, whichever is lowest, applied over four years.

  Source: NYC Department of Finance, Solar Electric Generating System (SEGS) Tax Abatement (checked 2026-09-25)

• New York State (NY-Sun)

  NY-Sun upfront incentive, Con Edison region

  NYSERDA's NY-Sun programme pays upfront solar incentives by region, and Con Edison territory is one of its three regions. Incentive levels step down in megawatt blocks and remain available only until the blocks for a region and sector are fully subscribed.

  Source: NYSERDA, Dashboards and Incentives (checked 2026-09-25)

• Con Edison service area

  Con Edison net metering credits

  Con Edison customers with solar are credited on their bill for excess electricity sent to the grid, and leftover credits are applied to later bills. Residential customers are not billed demand charges.

  Source: Con Edison, Solar Energy Installation: Frequently Asked Questions (checked 2026-09-25)

New York ranks 3 of 4 for yield among the cities we model in the United States, and 17 of 41 across every country on Solar Figures. Within one country the prices are the same, so a payback gap between these cities comes from sunshine alone (US cities use their own state's prices).

Closest yield abroad: Rio de Janeiro (1,340 kWh per kWp), Melbourne (1,382 kWh per kWp), Osaka (1,299 kWh per kWp).

Power you use yourself is worth the retail price ($0.30 per kWh in our NY state model); power you export earns $0.30. So the share you use at home, by running appliances in daylight or adding a battery, changes the payback. The system cost stays the same in every row (a battery would add to it).

• Net system cost after incentives: $13,050 for 6 kWp.
• Incentive modelled: $4,350 (NY State 25% solar credit (cap $5,000)).
• 25-year net savings at our default: $55,645.

At latitude 40.71°N, PVGIS finds the fixed tilt and direction that maximise yearly output. Our figures use a common 35° roof; the table shows what the optimum adds.

The optimum adds 0.2% a year over the standard roof in New York. Most of a roof's value comes from its direction: a roof facing away from the equator loses far more than a few degrees of tilt.