Solar Panel Cost in New York: $2.76/W, 7.9-Year Payback

Solar in New York costs about $22,080 for 8 kW at $2.76/W and pays back in roughly 7.9 years at 29.9¢/kWh with the federal credit at $0.

Updated September 2026 · Source: EIA Electric Power Monthly Table 5.6.A (July 2026 data) · next EIA update ~Oct 23

By SolarCostData Data Desk · Reviewed September 2026 · Corrections log

On this page: CalculatorTableHow we calculatedSources

Jump to calculator ↓

Why this number

Solar panels in New York cost about $2.76 per watt — $22,080 for a typical 8 kW system — and pay back in roughly 7.9 years at the state’s 29.9¢/kWh average rate, with the 2026 federal credit at $0. Full-retail net metering is assumed; confirm with your utility.

Everything below uses New York’s real average residential electricity rate (29.9¢/kWh, EIA) and a production band of about 1,270 kWh per kW per year. Both are stated openly because they are the two inputs that decide the answer. These are estimates for sanity-checking a quote, not a quote.

Run it with your own numbers

Why New York’s payback lands where it does

New York’s average rate climbed about fourteen percent to 29.9 cents per kilowatt-hour this July from 26.22 cents a year earlier, the fifth-highest rate in the country and a big driver behind the state’s fast 7.9-year payback despite an unremarkable yield of 1,270 kilowatt-hours per installed kilowatt. Consolidated Edison, the New York City utility and the largest in the state with over 3 million residential customers, actually charges well above the statewide average at 34.2 cents, meaning Con Edison customers are looking at an even faster real payback than the 7.9-year state figure suggests, while Niagara Mohawk customers upstate, at 16.7 cents, face a considerably longer one. Full retail net metering credits exports at whichever local rate applies, so in a state this split between an expensive downstate grid and a cheaper upstate one, the statewide average understates what New York City-area owners can expect.

Electric utilities in New York

The state average hides real spreads between utilities. The largest residential utilities EIA-861 lists for New York, with each one’s own average bundled residential price (2024 — revenue ÷ sales, the audited annual figure, not this month’s tariff):

Your utility decides New York’s real number — the ZIP lookup finds it in three clicks; the 2024 annual utility averages above sit apart from the June-2026 monthly 29.9¢ state figure.

New York’s rate, the last 24 months

July 2025 → July 2026: 26.22¢ → 29.90¢. The rate tracker has every month against the US average.

An 8 kW system in New York, priced out

The $2.76/W used above comes from EnergySage marketplace quotes (August 2026). Those are quotes in a competitive online market, not signed contract prices.

For comparison, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s Tracking the Sun reports $3.71/W for New York in 2025 (n=7,703) — 1.34x higher. The two measure different things: LBNL records prices actually reported to incentive programs, including dealer-fee financing and full retail channel costs, while EnergySage reflects what a price-sensitive online shopper is quoted. The real market median is probably between them. At the LBNL price this system would cost $29,680 and take about 10.4 years to pay back, against 7.9 at the quote-based figure — treat that as the upper case.

Read that table with one caveat: $2.76/W is New York’s market average, and it is the input most likely to differ for you. A quote $0.50 per watt above or below the $2.76 used here moves the payback by roughly a year and a half in either direction.

How much sun New York actually gets

A kilowatt of panels in New York produces about 1,270 kWh a year on an unshaded, south-facing roof at a 20-degree pitch. Sites that swap New York’s 1,270 kWh for a single national average are how Arizona and Washington end up with identical paybacks despite a 1.6x real difference in output.

That figure is a five-point cluster around New York City. It is a state average, and in New York that hides a lot: NYC 1255, Buffalo 1129 If you are not near New York City, treat the number as a starting point and run your own address through a modelling tool.

City-level figures for New York

We have separately modeled production for 5 New York cities, and they are 13% apart — Syracuse at 1,114 kWh per kW against New York City at 1,255. Installed cost held at $2.76/W; paybacks use each city’s own utility tariff and export treatment where we have official EIA-861 data, which is why some differ sharply from this page’s state-average model.

• New York City — 1,255 kWh per kW, payback about 7.0 years (on its own utility’s tariff)
• Albany — 1,178 kWh per kW, payback about 15.9 years (on its own utility’s tariff)
• Rochester — 1,137 kWh per kW, payback about 15.5 years (on its own utility’s tariff)
• Buffalo — 1,129 kWh per kW, payback about 16.5 years (on its own utility’s tariff)
• Syracuse — 1,114 kWh per kW, payback about 16.7 years (on its own utility’s tariff)

Those are real PVGIS-NSRDB location points, not the state figure scaled by guesswork. All New York and other city figures .

Two adjustments matter before you apply this to your own roof:

• Shading and orientation. The 1,270 kWh figure assumes an unobstructed south-facing array. A real New York roof — its own azimuth and pitch, a tree or a chimney — typically produces 10-25% less; this page models 90% of the ideal, so the 9,144 kWh/year above is already derated from 10,160. A genuinely unshaded south roof can adjust upward in the calculator.
• Year-to-year weather moves output by roughly ±5% either way.

How New York compares with the other 49

New York ranks 5th of 50 on electricity price and 5th on annual output value per kW installed — close enough that its rate is a fair proxy for its solar case, which is not true everywhere. Its immediate neighbors on price are Massachusetts (30.5¢) just above and Alaska (28.8¢) just below.

Massachusetts is New York’s closest comparable-rate analogue — 30.5¢/kWh, roughly 1,250 kWh per kW, and a payback within about a year of this one (8.3 vs 7.9 years). If you find New York quotes hard to sanity-check, Massachusetts numbers are broadly transferable.

The export question worth asking your New York utility

New York credits exported power at the retail rate — full net metering — under Phase One net metering + VDER Value Stack, in force since VDER, so a kilowatt-hour you send to the grid is worth the same as one you buy. That is the best case for solar economics, and it is why the payback above is what it is.

It is also the assumption most likely to change. Twenty-two states have already moved to net billing. If New York did the same on typical terms, this system would take about 14.8 years to pay back instead of 7.9 — 6.9 years’ difference from a policy change, with no change to the hardware. The households best placed for that day are the ones already storing their surplus, which is why what a home battery actually costs is worth knowing even while full retail holds.

Customer Benefit Contribution values were not confirmed.

One limit worth knowing: this reflects investor-owned, state-regulated utilities; New York’s municipal utilities and co-ops are exempt in most cases and set their own terms.

New York’s own solar tax credit, and what else is left

The 30% federal credit ended for systems completed after December 31, 2025, so it is $0 here as everywhere. What remains is state, utility and local — and it varies far more than the federal rule ever did.

Solar Energy System Equipment Credit (Form IT-255) — 25% of system cost, capped at $5,000. Non-refundable, with a five-year carryforward and no sunset. Unusually, leases and PPAs of 10 years or more also qualify — most state credits exclude third-party ownership. On the $22,080 system modeled above that is worth up to $5,000. The paperwork side of claiming it is walked through in our solar tax season checklist .

Tax exemptions

Sales tax is exempt (4.0% state rate), which keeps roughly $883 off the upfront cost of the system modeled here.

Property tax is fully exempt on the added value, so the system does not raise your assessment. Roughly 1.6%/yr of value.

How New York’s package stacks up against the other states’ credits, rebates and exemptions is laid out on the solar incentives hub .

Is solar worth it in New York at 29.9¢/kWh?

New York pays because power is expensive, not because it is sunny. A 1,270 kWh/kW year is ordinary; a 29.9¢ rate is not. Every kilowatt-hour you stop buying is simply worth a lot here.

A payback under ten years also changes the timing question: once the numbers clear this comfortably, waiting has a cost of its own, and when to buy solar prices that out.

Two numbers put that in context. At New York’s rate, the electricity an 8 kW system would produce is worth about $2,734 a year, so the system costs roughly 8.1 years of that output to buy outright — a simple division, before costs. The headline 7.9-year figure above is the full model: it additionally counts 2.5%/yr rate inflation, $150/yr of running costs and one inverter replacement, which is why the two differ slightly. And doing nothing is not free: 25 years of that same electricity, with rates rising at 2.5% a year, comes to about $93,387.

For a 15-year payback in New York — given its sunshine rather than a national average — the electricity rate would need to be about 16.5¢/kWh. New York is at 29.9¢, which is comfortably above that line.

Sources and method

• Electricity rate: U.S. Energy Information Administration, average price by state — EIA Table 5.6.A, July 2026 data (released Sep 2026). Rate shown is New York’s residential average.
• Production: PVGIS v5.2 with the PVGIS-NSRDB radiation database, 1,270 kWh/kW for a five-point cluster around New York’s largest metro, then the 90% real-roof factor; the assumptions, the ERA5 cross-check and the attribution are on the methodology page .
• Incentives: DSIRE — Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency, NC Clean Energy Technology Center. Verify current amounts and fund status before relying on them.
• Federal credit status: IRS, Residential Clean Energy Credit . See our 2026 energy tax credit guide .
• Payback model: shared with the solar savings calculator — 2.5%/yr utility inflation, 0.5%/yr degradation, federal credit $0.

New York’s rate (29.9¢, EIA Table 5.6.A, July 2026 data (released Sep 2026)), export regime, production factor, installed cost and programs were last verified on 25 September 2026; New York’s export credit resets on its tariff cycle and incentive budgets run out mid-year, so confirm current terms before acting. Not tax or financial advice.

Frequently asked questions

How we calculated this

Worked for New York: 8 kW × 1,000 × $2.76/W = $22,080 gross (federal credit $0, so net before state incentives); 9,144 kWh a year × the blended kWh value at 29.9¢ retail ≈ $2,734 year-1 saving; payback ≈ $22,080 ÷ $2,734 = 7.9 years with 2.5%/yr rate growth, 0.5%/yr degradation and one inverter replacement in the 25-year model.

Sources: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) electricity rates · DSIRE incentive records · public IRS/OBBBA guidance. Figures are modeled estimates, not quotes or tax advice. See our methodology.

States with a comparable tariff picture

• Why is my electric bill so high? — Splits a bill jump into weather, rate and usage — with New York’s own EIA rate history built in.
• Heat pump crossover temperature — Cold-zone question: the outdoor temperature where gas beats a NEEP-listed heat pump at New York’s rates.
• Cost to heat a home in New York — Gas, propane, heating oil, heat pump and resistance per MMBtu at New York’s own EIA winter prices — the heating side of the same rate.
• Electricity rate tracker — New York’s last 24 months of EIA rates, charted against the US average.
• Find your rate by ZIP — New York averages hide utility gaps — look yours up from EIA-861 in three clicks.
• Net metering by state (2026 table) — Every state’s export regime with program, date and source — the rule behind New York’s payback.
• Solar panel cost in Massachusetts — Same export regime at 30.5¢/kWh and a 8.3-year payback — the closest tariff comparison to New York.
• Solar panel cost in Rhode Island — Same export regime at 28.3¢/kWh and a 8.5-year payback — the closest tariff comparison to New York.
• Solar panel cost in Maine — Same export regime at 32.4¢/kWh and a 8.0-year payback — the closest tariff comparison to New York.