Leading Commercial Solar Provider in New York

New York layers several programs. NY-Sun, run by NYSERDA, pays an upfront per-watt incentive on commercial systems, set by region and remaining MW Block capacity. Production is then compensated long-term through the Value Stack — tariff-based bill credits that vary by utility territory. On the tax side, RPTL 487 provides a 15-year property-tax exemption on added system value in participating localities, New York City adds its own solar property-tax abatement for eligible buildings, and system owners can take accelerated depreciation. We model the full stack for your specific address and territory.

NY-Sun divides the state into regions — Con Edison, Upstate, and Long Island — and allocates each a series of megawatt blocks. Projects in an open block receive an upfront per-watt payment toward the build; when a block fills, the next opens at a lower rate, and several regions are already in late blocks. That design rewards early applicants: the incentive you receive is the one live when your application lands, which is why we confirm real-time block status before quoting.

Instead of one-for-one net metering, New York compensates most commercial and community systems through the Value of Distributed Energy Resources tariff — the Value Stack. Every kilowatt-hour earns bill credits built from the wholesale energy price, capacity value, environmental value, demand reduction, and locational adders, so compensation reflects when and where the power is delivered. Rates differ by utility territory; we run NYSERDA’s calculator against your site as part of feasibility.

Yes, on two fronts. Eligible NYC buildings can claim a city property-tax abatement for installing solar, layered on top of state programs. Just as importantly, Local Law 97 caps greenhouse-gas emissions for most buildings over 25,000 square feet, with financial penalties for overages and stricter limits arriving in 2030 — onsite solar reduces a covered building’s compliance exposure while producing income, which is why NYC commercial owners are moving early.

All the majors: Con Edison, National Grid, NYSEG, RG&E, Central Hudson, Orange & Rockland, and PSEG Long Island. We’ve already built in Con Edison territory — Westchester and Staten Island — and in Central Hudson in Poughkeepsie, and territory determines both your Value Stack rates and interconnection path, so it’s the first thing we confirm.

Plankton is a Brooklyn-headquartered commercial solar developer and long-term owner-operator. One team carries a project from origination and engineering through interconnection, procurement, installation, and commissioning — then stays on to operate and maintain it for decades. New York is our home market: the systems we build here, we answer for here.

The physical threshold is roughly 10,000+ square feet of open, structurally sound flat roof or 25,000+ square feet of parking. The strongest fits are buildings with real daytime loads or compliance pressure: warehouses and distribution centers, grocery-anchored retail, office parks, hospitality, multi-family, schools, houses of worship — and NYC buildings covered by Local Law 97.

Panels and inverters carry manufacturer warranties of 25 years, and the economics are modeled over that horizon. Because Plankton owns and operates its own portfolio, the same organization that engineered your system monitors its production, services the equipment, and manages program compliance for the life of the agreement — maintenance isn’t outsourced or an afterthought.

A solar system should never outlive the roof under it, so we require roughly 20 years of remaining roof life before we build. If yours is short of that, the numbers often still work: a re-roof can be folded into the project financing so the membrane and the array start their clocks together.

The state’s incentive design punishes waiting. NY-Sun blocks step down as they’re subscribed — several regions are already in late blocks — and Value Stack components are updated periodically. Interconnection queues, especially downstate, add months before any system can energize, and Local Law 97’s stricter 2030 limits are fixed on the calendar. Meanwhile, every month at New York rates is a month of unhedged expense. A feasibility analysis is free and locks nothing in.