New York solar tax credit and rebate estimator

New York's incentive stack has narrowed at the rebate level but stays strong elsewhere

The NY-Sun rebate is largely gone for standard-income households

The NY-Sun Megawatt Block program used to provide a per-watt rebate to essentially every New York homeowner who installed solar, but that has changed. The standard-income block closed in the Con Edison region on May 29, 2025, in the Upstate region on December 17, 2025, and on Long Island through PSEG Long Island all the way back in 2016. A lot of guides published before these closures, and even some more recent ones, still describe a general per-watt rebate as if it applies to everyone, which is no longer accurate. What remains active is the Affordable Solar Residential Incentive for households at or below 80% of area median income, paying $0.80 per watt in the Con Edison and Upstate regions and $0.40 per watt on Long Island. Use the low-income eligibility checker to confirm where your household falls before budgeting around this rebate.

The 25% state tax credit remains one of the strongest in the country

New York's Residential Clean Energy Tax Credit equals 25% of your total system cost, capped at $5,000, claimed on Form IT-255. Unlike the now-expired federal residential credit, you don't need to have purchased the system outright, and any unused credit carries forward for up to five years if it exceeds your state tax liability in the year you claim it. With the federal 30% credit gone for most 2026 homeowner-purchased systems, check your federal ITC status directly, since this state credit is carrying more of the incentive weight than it used to. To see how a loan changes this result, run the combined loan and rebate timing tool with the same system cost.

Net metering is still available, but VDER is the direction the state is heading

Most residential solar customers can still choose traditional 1:1 net metering as of 2026. New York is gradually transitioning toward the Value of Distributed Energy Resources program, known as VDER or the Value Stack, which breaks compensation into several components rather than a single retail-rate credit, and applies increasingly to newer and larger projects. Phase Two of this transition currently still allows most residential customers to pick either option, so ask your installer to model both for your specific utility territory rather than assuming net metering is guaranteed to remain the default. Compare the overall package against a neighboring state with the New Jersey incentive estimator. The Net metering explains the terms behind this estimate in plain language.

Sales and property tax exemptions apply automatically in most of the state, but opt-outs are real and growing

Solar equipment is exempt from New York's 4% state sales tax under NYS Tax Law Section 1115(ee), and many localities extend this to local sales tax as well, though coverage can vary by county. On property tax, Real Property Tax Law Section 487 excludes the added value your solar system contributes from your home's assessment for 15 years, applied automatically unless a municipality or school district has formally opted out through its own local law. These opt-outs aren't just theoretical: the Town of Chili, in Monroe County, passed one in December 2025, joining a number of other localities, mostly upstate, that have already done so over the years. If certainty matters to your decision, confirm directly with your local assessor whether your specific municipality and school district have opted out before you sign a contract. Your rebate total changes what a loan costs each month, and the combined loan and rebate timing tool shows that payment once you enter both figures. The property tax exemption savings calculator can help you estimate the ongoing value once you know your local status.