New York increases solar capacity by 800% in five years

The US state of New York is progressing towards its goal of sourcing 50% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030, with its Governor Andrew M Cuomo recently announcing that state-supported solar power capacity increased in New York by 800% from December 2011 to December 2016. 

The large gains in capacity have been facilitated through the NY-Sun Initiative, which provides incentives for residential, commercial and industrial buildings to install solar panels. Under the initiative seven regions in the state saw more than a 1,000% growth in solar power levels over the five-year period. 

According to Governor Cuomo the NY-Sun programme has mobilised an extra $1.5bn in private investment in solar in New York, following the establishment of the scheme in 2012 and a commitment from Cuomo in 2014 to spend $1bn over ten years to stimulate the solar market in the state.

By the end of 2016, a total of 65,000 solar projects were installed in New York totalling 744 MW. This compares to 9,000 projects in operation at the end of 2011. The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), the New York Power Authority and the Long Island Power Authority were involved in the support programmes, which also help schools, rented property occupiers and low-to-moderate income residents install solar panels.

As well as the state-funded support, the dramatic drop in the cost of solar installations worldwide and growth of solar installer businesses in New York have helped the strong rise in capacity. The largest regional percentage increase in New York solar power was in the Mohawk Valley (with a 1,600% increase in megawatts installed), followed by the Finger Lakes Region, Central New York and the Southern Tier. Long Island has the largest capacity of any region with 215 MW installed across 38,000 projects.

The growth is set to continue. At the end of last year an additional 890 MW of solar power capacity was in development in the state. The NY-Sun initiative is expected to result in 3 GW of solar power installed in New York by 2023. 

‘The surge in the solar market is providing energy savings for New York households and businesses, and creating thousands of jobs as the industry grows to meet this demand,’ said John B Rhodes, President and CEO of NYSERDA.

Meanwhile, also in New York state, a new electric vehicle initiative has been set up to install charging points and incentivise employers to encourage employees to buy electric vehicles. The electric vehicle campaign will see 450 charging stations installed, 150 of which will be at workplaces. These will add to the wider ‘ChargeNY’ initiative in the state that aims to get 3,000 charging stations installed to support between 30,000 and 40,000 plug-in electric vehicles on New York roads by 2018.

The plans will also see more funding made available for fleet owners to purchase electric vehicles, and for the New York city of Rochester to become a pilot electric vehicle model city, using $4.8mn in state funding.

New York state has a goal to reduce its total greenhouse gas emissions by 40% from 1990 levels by 2030.