Dive Brief:
- New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has signed legislation that will extend real property tax credits for solar panels installed on buildings in New York City.
- The law, which extends the credit to Jan. 1, 2017, also doubles the size of the tax credit to 5% of eligible costs generally related to labor, materials, installation and engineering.
- The law covers solar panels that would be installed on a range of buildings including commercial and industrial properties, as well as homes, co-ops and rental buildings.
Dive Insight:
The law went into effect Sept. 23 and is aimed at easing the relatively high cost of installing solar generation in New York City. Renewables Energy Outlook quoted Kit Kennedy, clean energy counsel at the Natural Resources Defense Council, who noted that “in just three years, New York has gone from a couple hundred rooftops with solar panels statewide to cracking the top ten states in solar installations nationwide."
The state does have an increased interest in solar. On Oct. 15 Cuomo also announced Monolith Solar, which designs and installs solar energy modules for residential, commercial and non-profit customers, is expanding its operations and will build its new headquarters, and research and development and manufacturing facility in the Vista Technology Campus in Slingerlands, N.Y.
In addition, Monolith will install a solar farm adjacent to its new facility, producing enough electricity to power the majority of the tech park.