GUEST VIEWPOINT: Time’s Running Out for Solar Incentives—But There are Still Ways for New York to Shine

The Hudson Valley is proof that a strong economy and a healthy environment go hand in hand. When we invest in clean energy—especially solar—we reduce operating costs for the places that anchor our communities, create good local jobs, and protect the landscapes and waterways that make this region worth living in.

A big opportunity for accessing more renewable energy is hiding in plain sight: putting solar on the buildings (and parking lots) we already rely on—housing developments, manufacturing facilities, hospitals, colleges, and government offices—instead of on land that is already home to our precious natural and agricultural resources.

We’ve seen this approach work firsthand in Poughkeepsie. Scenic Hudson’s new Northside Hub at 58 Parker Avenue is a net-zero redevelopment of the long-abandoned Standard Gage factory that now serves both as staff offices and community gathering spaces. The site’s clean energy “power plant” isn’t tucked away on distant acreage—it’s right on the built environment, with rooftop solar panels plus a solar canopy over a parking lot. Combined, the rooftop and parking lot arrays have 359kW of capacity—and generate enough electricity to power, heat, and cool the entire facility.

The parking canopy does triple duty. It shades over 50 parking spaces, provides power for four Level 2 electric vehicle chargers, and supplements the energy captured by the building’s rooftop panels. The lot itself is thoughtfully integrated into neighborhood life: while it’s reserved for staff on weekdays, it is available to the community and visitors to the Walkway Over the Hudson on weekends. This is what “economic + environmental benefit” looks like in real life: adaptive reuse of a dilapidated building, lower operating costs for businesses, emissions-free electricity, and a project that benefits the community in which it resides.

Solar was the obvious choice for powering Scenic Hudson’s groundbreaking new Northside Hub, and it presents the same opportunity for New York homes, businesses, and our grid as a whole. The data is clear: solar power is now the cheapest and fastest way to add reliable energy to our grid. Over the past decade, solar module prices have decreased by 90%, and the efficiency and durability of the technology is continuing to improve.

Incentives for installing solar have helped make this reality possible. Scenic Hudson was able to craft its solar success story in part by accessing the Investment Tax Credit, or ITC, a federal tax incentive that became available to nonprofits and governmental entities earlier in the 2020s through a process called “direct pay.” The ITC could previously be counted on to cover at least 30% of the costs of designing, permitting, and installing solar arrays for homes and businesses; however, due to recent changes in federal policy, the ITC will soon be gone.

Importantly, there is still an opportunity for Hudson Valley businesses and nonprofits to take advantage of the ITC if they act fast. Projects under 1.5 MW can capture the ITC if they are placed in service by the end of 2027 or if 5% of their components are purchased by July 4, 2026. This is a major opportunity for businesses and nonprofits that can move quickly!

Even after the ITC expires, however, solar will continue to present a great economic opportunity for Hudson Valley businesses and homeowners, especially with electricity prices on the rise. There are also important policy changes that New York State can adopt to make solar cheaper and quicker to install, especially on rooftops.

Some of the most significant changes are focused on cutting red tape to unleash solar power, rather than providing government funding to further incentivize solar. Currently, solar costs upwards of $3 per watt to install in the U.S., compared to less than $1.50 per watt in Germany and less than $1 per watt in Australia. This is for a myriad of reasons, but arguably the most acute are the cost of connecting projects to the grid and the lengthy process of permitting—meaning that solar installations take much longer than they should to go from design to installation.

New York can reduce solar project costs by enacting state legislation such as the Accelerating Solar Affordable Power (or ASAP) Act, which would implement “flexible interconnection”—a grid management approach that dynamically adjusts how and when energy resources connect to the grid based on real-time grid conditions—effectively expanding the grid’s capacity without expensive upgrades to connect each solar project. It can also explore reforming the permitting process by enacting automated solar permitting (as New Jersey did last year) to greatly reduce the time and expense required to permit simple rooftop solar arrays.

There are other ways that New York can inject more flexibility into the solar market as well. Following the lead of Utah, New York could enable residential and commercial portable plug-in solar setups, commonly referred to as “balcony solar,” by exempting them from existing interconnection and net metering requirements. Such setups make it possible for renters and apartment dwellers to access renewable solar power with minimal investment compared to a traditional fixed rooftop solar array.

While there is still time to access federal incentives before they’re gone, New York can shape the solar industry of tomorrow—protecting tens of thousands of jobs and helping the state achieve its nation-leading climate goals—by removing barriers that prevent New York homes and businesses from installing solar.

About the authors: Mike Oates is the President & CEO, Hudson Valley Economic Development Corporation (HVEDC), and Ned Sullivan is President of Scenic Hudson.