NYSERDA Solar Programs: The Complete List

A search for a NYSERDA solar program tends to return one answer, NY-Sun, as if that were the whole picture. It was the largest piece for homes, but it is one of several, and as of September 2026 it has no block open for homes, so the others matter more than ever.

Some of these programs pay contractors. One provides bill credits and installs nothing. One is a lending facility. Knowing which is which saves a lot of wasted phone calls.

What NYSERDA is, and what it is not

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority is a public benefit corporation. It designs and funds clean energy programs, sets the rules contractors must follow to participate, and pays incentives.

It is not a utility, so it does not bill you for electricity or run net metering. It is not a tax authority, so it has nothing to do with the state tax credit you claim on your return. And it does not sell or install anything itself.

That division of labour is the source of most confusion. Three different bodies touch a single New York solar project, and each answers only its own questions.

The NYSERDA solar program most homeowners meet first

NY-Sun was the flagship residential incentive. It paid a set amount per watt of installed direct-current capacity, and it paid that amount to a participating contractor rather than to the household. As of September 2026 NYSERDA has no open NY-Sun block for homes in any utility territory; check NYSERDA’s NY-Sun dashboard for a new one.

The rate was never fixed statewide or over time. Capacity is allocated in regional megawatt blocks, and as blocks filled the rate generally stepped down (upstate it rose once, to $0.50 per watt in January 2022). The last standard residential blocks closed on 05/29/2025 in Con Edison territory (block 10, $0.15 per watt) and on 12/17/2025 upstate (block 14, $0.15 per watt); on Long Island they closed in 2016. That is why an incentive figure has a shelf life. The mechanics of the incentive and the block schedule behind it are worth reading together.

Practically, NY-Sun showed up as a reduction in the price of a quote, with no form for the homeowner to file. On a home quote written today the NY-Sun line should be $0 unless NYSERDA has opened a new block.

Income-qualified support: Affordable Solar and Solar for All

Two distinct things sit under the income-qualified heading, and they are frequently conflated.

The first was a higher per-watt NY-Sun rate for households below defined income thresholds, most recently the Residential Affordable Solar track at $0.80 per watt. It reduced the cost of an installation the household was having built on its own roof. It is closed in Con Edison territory and upstate: the Con Edison track ran from 05/30/2025 to 10/15/2025 and the upstate one from 12/18/2025 to 03/09/2026. On Long Island, NYSERDA’s April 2026 NY-Sun Program Manual still lists it at $0.40 per watt, not tied to a block and paid to a participating NY-Sun contractor, who must pass it on in the contract; ask the contractor to confirm funding is still available.

The second is Solar for All, which is not an installation program at all. Eligible households are subscribed to a community solar project at no cost and receive a credit on their electricity bill. No panels are installed, no contract to buy equipment is signed, and no roof is required.

Community solar, for the roofs that cannot take panels

Beyond the income-qualified route, NYSERDA supports community solar generally. A project is built somewhere else, subscribers take a share of its output, and the value arrives as credits against their own utility bill.

The household is a subscriber rather than an owner. There is normally no upfront payment, no equipment on the property and no tax filing, and the subscription can usually be cancelled with notice. What varies between providers is the discount rate, the notice period and how the credits are reconciled against the bill.

For many New York households, particularly in dense areas, this is the only realistic route to solar savings. The community solar guide covers how subscriptions are structured.

Storage runs on its own budget

Battery storage is supported separately from solar. It has its own incentive structure, its own eligibility rules and its own allocation, and it is administered through installers in much the same pass-through way.

The important practical point is that a storage incentive is not part of the NY-Sun solar figure. A quote combining both into one number is obscuring what is actually being paid for what. The storage incentive page goes into how batteries are priced and when they earn their cost.

Financing is a loan, not a giveaway

NYSERDA supports residential lending for clean energy improvements, including options where repayment is collected through the utility bill. These are loans. They carry interest and they must be repaid.

They exist because the barrier to residential solar is usually the upfront cost rather than the lifetime economics. Borrowing terms, credit criteria and available products change, so treat any figures you read as provisional and check the current offering. Solar loans in New York covers how to compare them against dealer financing.

The programs at a glance

The support NYSERDA does not administer

Three things people routinely ask NYSERDA about belong elsewhere.

The state tax credit for solar energy system equipment is claimed on your New York return on Form IT-255 and is a matter for the Department of Taxation and Finance. It is a percentage of qualified expenditure subject to a statutory cap, and unused amounts can generally be carried forward, but the definitions that decide your figure are in the current form instructions.

The New York City property tax abatement is filed with the Department of Buildings and applied to the property tax bill in four annual installments. It applies only within the city.

Net metering is set by tariff and overseen by the Public Service Commission, and it is your utility that applies the credits. NYSERDA has no role in what appears on that bill.

Frequently asked questions