While solar power is becoming more competitive all the time, the need for government incentives is still strong. Recently, New York state offered developers an incentive to build large projects. Response to that solicitation was overwhelming.


In September, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the winners of his NY-Sun awards. A combination of public and private financing will go to 142 project sites totaling 224 megawatts, a 68 percent increase in the state’s solar capacity installed in 2013.


Not only did the number of developers bidding in this process (49) increase dramatically over the state’s previous two solicitations, but also the results of this latest competition reveal two promising trends for solar in New York. 


Cuomo’s office notes that average project size more than doubled to 1.8 megawatts from 7.8 kilowatts a year ago. Also, aggregate bid prices declined sharply in the same time frame, by about 30–40 cents per watt, depending on project area. The combined result of these two trends is 1.6 times more solar energy generated per ratepayer dollar than one year ago. This is good news for cost-competitive solar power.


The projects also show how solar is innovating. Five of the projects will integrate energy efficiency and energy storage, and many will use remote net metering, allowing credits accrued from one system to apply to other accounts under the same ownership.


The projects will be built on a variety of sites, including businesses, schools, government facilities, nonprofits and hospitals, and they will be located throughout the state.


Funding came from $94 million obtained through the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority’s Competitive PV program and was used to leverage an additional $375 million in private investments.