‘By doubling down on distributed solar, New York is demonstrating that clean energy and affordability can go hand-in-hand,’ said Noah Ginsburg, Executive Director of NYSEIA. The organisation represents 18,688 workers in the state’s solar industry.

State Senator Peter Harckham added that the public funding will expand local rooftop and community solar to create annual utility savings for consumers. ‘At a time when other forms of new electric generation face years of delay, our investment in solar means new energy that can quickly scale, meet demand and provide long-term savings,’ Harckham said.

In tandem with community solar additions, the New York State Senate and Assembly passed the Solar Up Now NY (SUNNY) Act to Governor Hochul for signature. The SUNNY Act permits the use of portable plug-in solar devices, such as balcony solar panels, up to 1.2kW capacity (AC). These systems connect directly to standard 120V electrical outlets.  

The legislation requires devices to be certified by a testing laboratory and installed in accordance with state fire codes. Under the act, utilities cannot require users of plug-in solar devices to sign grid connection agreements or participate in net metering. Utilities are also prohibited from charging fees for using the equipment. Device owners must notify their utility provider within 30 days of installation.

‘Under the SUNNY Act, even people living in apartments will be able to make the choice to replace some of their fossil fuel use with solar energy they capture themselves,’ said Katherine Nadeau, Deputy Executive Director of Policy and Programs at Environmental Advocates NY.

New York is the eighth state to pass plug-in solar legislation through its legislature. Governors in Colorado, Maine, Maryland, Utah and Virginia have signed similar bills into law, while approved legislation in Connecticut and New Hampshire awaits the governor's signature.

These state measures come as utility regulators in 27 US states are raising fixed monthly fees and lowering per-kilowatt-hour rates for residential customers. According to the North Carolina Clean Energy Technology Center, these changes create baseline costs that consumers pay regardless of whether they self-generate. This can reduce the price difference between daytime and nighttime electricity, limiting time-of-use savings and impacting solar-plus-battery investments.

The budget also follows the passage of the Accelerate Solar for Affordable Power (ASAP) Act, which aims to deploy 20GW of distributed solar energy by 2035. Patrick McClellan, Policy Director for the New York League of Conservation Voters, said that federal support faces changes, making state-level funding additions for the NY-Sun programme and interconnection updates necessary to boost community solar.

Analysis from the Rocky Mountain Institute indicates that centralised infrastructure expansion drives up retail electricity rates across the US due to transmission line and substation construction costs: distributed energy resources generate and store electricity at the point of consumption, reducing peak loads on the distribution grid. Clean energy advocacy groups, including Vote Solar, say that distributed generation moves infrastructure development costs away from public utility ratepayers and onto private investors.  

The New York state budget calls for the Public Service Commission to revise the utility interconnection process, stating that these utilities will create flexible interconnection programmes using smart-grid controls to manage solar and energy storage exports and charging to avoid delays caused by traditional infrastructure upgrades. NYSEIA estimates that flexible interconnection programmes could increase community solar hosting capacity by up to 97% in upstate New York, adding 3.3GW of capacity. The state aims to reach 10GW of distributed solar by 2030, having already surpassed its previous 6GW goal ahead of schedule.

On a local level, the funding expansion coincides with the completion of Sunset Park Solar, a 725kW rooftop installation at the Brooklyn Army Terminal. As New York City's first community-owned solar collection, the project partners with the New York City Economic Development Corporation to supply electricity to local low- and moderate-income residents and small businesses.

Nonprofit organisations United Puerto Rican Organisation of Sunset Park (UPROSE) and Solar One drove the joint development of the Sunset Park project alongside energy cooperative Co-op Power, Resonant Energy and installer 770 Electric Corporation. UPROSE and Solar One provided solar installation training courses to local residents and 770 Electric Corporation hired six of those trainees for the construction work. The cooperative ownership structure gives each subscriber-member a vote to determine how to allocate resources and profits from the installation.

The Sunset Park Solar array is expected to generate more than $1mn in revenue for the Community Resiliency Fund over its 25-year lease period. The project is also expected to lower energy costs by 20% for participating residents, according to UPROSE. The installation is estimated to generate 19.6mn kWh of solar electricity over 25 years, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 13,056 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent.