Power up: NYC wants to subsidize solar panels for low-income homeowners

The Adams administration is planning to launch a program that could help as many as 3,000 low-income homeowners install solar panels on their rooftops at no or low cost, offering homeowners a chance to bring down their electricity bills while also reducing the city’s carbon footprint.

City officials say the plan also tackles equity by bringing an often costly technology to communities that have traditionally been shut out of the renewable energy movement.

The initiative, which is largely reliant on yet-to-be secured federal funding, is expected to be among those Mayor Eric Adams will announce Thursday as part of his environmental agenda that he is rolling out during Earth Week.

The program, which borrows a plan proposed by City Comptroller Brad Lander, would create a public entity to bring solar panels at no cost to homeowners willing to lease their rooftops. As part of the arrangement, the homeowner would share in the benefits generated from solar panels.

The average cost of installing solar panels on residences runs between $15,000 to $25,000 before tax credits or incentives, according to the Center for Sustainable Energy. Electricity costs in New York City are 40% higher than the nationwide average.

As an alternative to leasing their rooftops for solar panels, the city will also help eligible homeowners apply for state and federal subsidies as well as bridge loans. In that scenario, homeowners would fully own their panels and reap all the benefits of the energy created by them.

“There's so many flavors of how you could do this,” said Rohit Aggarwala, the commissioner of the city’s Department of Environmental Protection. “Part of what we want to invest in is coming up with the packages that are most attractive to the people and to the homeowners in New York City who have been thus far less well served by the private sector providers.”

According to Aggarwala, the program is the first of its kind in a large city.

But the rollout will take time. City officials say the plan will be implemented over the next five years. The Adams administration will allocate $1 million in seed money, the rest will need to come from a competitive grant program administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Earlier this year, the Biden administration announced roughly $100 million for projects that advance environmental justice in underserved and overburdened communities across the country.”

Aggarwala said the city is planning to apply for a slice of that aid in the next several months, and could begin soliciting interest from prospective applicants as early as the end of this year.

New York City ranks sixth in total installed solar capacity among U.S. cities, according to a 2022 report from the Environment California Research and Policy Center.

While interest in solar panels has picked up among New Yorkers, experts say that reaching ambitious solar targets demand more concerted policies.

Aside from cost, there are barriers of installation and regulation.

The City Council is currently weighing a bill that would loosen some of the arduous requirements of complying with city fire codes.

Lander, who installed solar panels on his residence several years ago, said the public financing of solar panels on residences is part of a larger plan to reduce the city’s carbon footprint.

But the focus on homeowners makes sense since most of the city’s rooftops are one- to four-family homes.

“This is a pilot,” he said. “We hope to succeed and scale up dramatically.”