Solar power in New York

New York has a renewable portfolio standard of 30% from renewable sources by 2015. In 2015 24% was renewable, 6% short of the goal. Wind is the predominant generating technology.[1] In 2018, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority awarded long-term contracts to 22 utility-scale solar farms, totaling a combined capacity of 646 MW.[2]

Installing rooftop solar panels in Poughkeepsie

In 2012, LIPA adopted a power purchase agreement (limited to 50 MW), which will pay $0.22/kWh for solar generation for installations ranging from 50 kW to 20 MW. A $500 to $5000 application fee favors larger power plants represents roughly the first 10 days of generation for a 50 kW to 500 kW system, but less than 2 hours of generation for a 20 MW installation. The term of the agreement is 20 years, and systems must be interconnected to the grid at the 13.2 kV level. Unlike the feed-in tariff programs in many other places, customers pay for their own electricity as if they were not generating any, making this actually a power purchase agreement, and not a feed-in tariff. LIPA owns the SRECs (which could be worth more than they are paying for the electricity).[3][4] A bill to establish SRECs in New York failed to pass in 2012.[5] 50 MW of solar power will meet the average needs of about 7,000 households, or less than 1% of the electricity supplied by LIPA. 5 MW is reserved for systems less than 150 kW, and 10 MW for systems from 150 to 500 kW. The remaining 35 MW is available to systems of all sizes. If fully subscribed in the first year, the average household will pay an estimated $0.44/month to pay for the program, which will generate an estimated 79.4 million kWh/year. Estimated costs are based on an average avoided cost rate of $0.075/kWh, although peak generation costs can exceed $0.22/kWh, eliminating any cost.[6] LIPA's total generation capacity, in 2011, was 6,800 MW.[7]

In 2023, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority approved 14 new large-scale solar projects, totaling more than 1 gigawatt of capacity.[8]

According to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) in 2023, New York has a solar capacity of 5,560 MW, ranking third nationally in solar jobs with 11,512 positions. The state aims to expand its capacity by 8,923 MW over the next five years. Solar power in New York now supplies electricity to 980,034 homes, accounting for 5.01% of the state's total electricity. With a solar market valued at $11.7 billion and $1.9 billion invested in 2023, solar costs in New York have decreased by 47% in the last decade.[9]

Statistics

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Installed Photovoltaics (MW)
Year Total Installed[10][11][12][13]
2007 15.4
2008 21.9 6.5
2009 33.9 12
2010 55.5 21.6
2011 123.8 68.3
2012 179.4 55.6
2013 240.5 61.1
2014 397 147
2015 638 241
2016 937 186
2017 1,038 101
2018 1,073 35 (partial)[14]
2019 1,571 498
2020 2,724.4 1,153.4
2021 3,380.6 656.2
2022 4,259 878.4
2023 5,560 937
Utility-scale solar generation in New York (GWh)[15]
Year Total Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
2011 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3
2012 52 3 4 5 6 5 6 5 5 5 3 3 2
2013 53 4 4 6 8 7 7 7 6 7 6 4 3
2014 72 3 4 6 8 7 8 8 8 6 5 5 3
2015 101 5 5 7 9 11 10 11 11 10 10 7 5
2016 139 8 7 11 12 11 16 15 15 11 11 10 12
2017 182 7 12 16 16 18 21 21 21 18 11 12 9
2018 297 14 13 22 23 27 31 42 37 25 23 18 22
2019 524 25 31 46 43 49 54 65 60 52 39 37 23
2020 839 44 50 73 74 98 99 95 80 80 57 52 37
2021 1,237 64 62 103 120 132 122 125 119 115 100 95 80
2022 197 91 106

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Final Report of the NYS RPS Annual Performance Report through December 31, 2015
  2. ^ "Governor Cuomo Announces Formal Request for New York Exclusion from Federal Offshore Drilling Program". Governor Andrew M. Cuomo. March 9, 2018. Retrieved May 24, 2018.
  3. ^ LIPA FIT Archived 2012-10-20 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ New Jersey SRECs
  5. ^ NY SREC market put on hold
  6. ^ Feed-in tariff proposal
  7. ^ Questions as LIPA fails to use Edge program
  8. ^ "Governor Hochul Announces Nation's Largest-Ever State Investment in Renewable Energy is Moving Forward in New York | Governor Kathy Hochul". www.governor.ny.gov. Retrieved October 24, 2023.
  9. ^ "State Solar Spotlight New York" (PDF). Solar Energy Industries Association. December 2023.
  10. ^ Sherwood, Larry (July 2009). "U.S. Solar Market Trends 2008" (PDF). Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). p. 16. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 23, 2009. Retrieved July 24, 2010.
  11. ^ Sherwood, Larry (July 2012). "U.S. Solar Market Trends 2012" (PDF). Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). p. 16. Retrieved October 11, 2013.
  12. ^ Sherwood, Larry (July 2014). "U.S. Solar Market Trends 2013" (PDF). Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). Retrieved September 26, 2014.
  13. ^ New York Solar
  14. ^ "NY Solar Map". nysolarmap.com. Archived from the original on June 5, 2023. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
  15. ^ "Electricity Data Browser". U.S. Department of Energy. March 28, 2018. Retrieved September 25, 2021.
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