New York City is on a mission to increase its solar-generated energy. How so? By allowing communities and business districts to ban together to collectively buy solar power, all to reduce carbon emissions.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said that through such aggregation programs, those entities will have more purchasing power than if they did so by themselves. He expects businesses to save as much as 20 percent this way while also helping solar providers build economies of scale. The offerings will then get better and cheaper over time.
"New York City is moving towards renewable, clean energy and away from fossil fuels, and making solar more accessible is a key piece of that puzzle," said de Blasio in a statement. "Now, Solarize NYC means more and more New Yorkers across the city will have access to lower-cost solar."
Since the start of 2014, the amount of solar capacity installed in New York City has tripled, the mayor adds, with private and public installations now totaling almost 75 megawatts. Public solar capacity has increased 13-fold since the Mayor took office, to nearly 9 MW. Private solar capacity has nearly tripled since the Mayor took office, from 24 MW at the beginning of 2014 to nearly 65 MW, he said.
