Home
New York Governor David Patterson announced the distribution of $10 million in federal stimulus funds for solar energy projects. The funds will be granted by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) on a competitive basis.
The money is part of a Program Opportunity Notice (PON). This particular program, PON 1686,
is a competitive capacity-based incentive program. In other words,
developers must propose solar projects that include individual solar PV
projects. When combined, the projects equal a minimum of 500 kilowatts
of solar electricity. Proposals for funding must be received by October
29th, 2009.
There will probably be no shortage of applications. On the heels of Governor Patterson’s announcement, NYSERDA released a letter announcing a reduction in awards through its PV incentive program. The program is back due to high demand. Effective immediately, incentives for residential and commercial solar electric systems have been reduced by 50 cents per watt. Therefore, the incentives for residential systems (up to 4 kW) have dropped from $3.oo/watt DC to $2.50/watt DC, according to the Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency (DSIRE). The maximum incentive remains at 50 percent of system costs, or $24,000 for residential systems – whichever is smaller.
