Monroe County · Finger Lakes · RG&E
Greece solar installation: actual costs and production
What a solar system really costs in Greece, what it will actually make on a Lake Ontario Plain roof, and the part of your RG&E bill it cannot touch. Every number below shows where it came from and when we last checked it.
The short version
A 9.5 kW system in Greece
Cash price, before incentives
$26,600–$35,150
$2.8–$3.7 per watt
Observed GridReady quote and bill review sample · verified Apr 2026
Financed price, same system
$33,250–$45,600
$3.5–$4.8 per watt. The gap is the dealer fee, not a cash discount.
Observed GridReady quote and bill review sample · verified Apr 2026
Annual production
10,260–11,590 kWh
Dec–Feb contributes only 1,026–1,159 kWh of that.
Modeled NREL PVWatts v8 · verified Jan 2026
What the bill will not lose
$432 / yr
The RG&E basic service charge of $25 a month survives any amount of solar. Plus the Customer Benefit Contribution at $1.16 per kW-DC per month × 9.5 kW = $11 a month. Together that is about $432 a year you will still pay at a 100% offset.
Show the arithmetic
9.5 kW-DC = 9,500 watts. At the active market cash band of $2.8–$3.7/W that is $26,600–$35,150. At the financed band of $3.5–$4.8/W it is $33,250–$45,600. The gap is the dealer fee.
Show the arithmetic
9.5 kW-DC × 1080–1220 kWh per kW-DC per year (Lake Ontario Plain specific-yield band) = 10,260–11,590 kWh a year. December through February is 10% of that.
Assumes a south-facing plane near latitude tilt with low shading. A due-east or due-west roof lands roughly 15–20% below the low end. Any real proposal should show a shade model, not just a band.
The 30% federal solar tax credit is gone for direct purchases.
Section 25D — the Residential Clean Energy Credit — terminated for expenditures after December 31, 2025 under Public Law 119-21. If you did not have a system installed and operational by the end of 2025, it is not available to you. Signing a contract or paying a deposit in 2025 was not enough.
Third-party ownership (a lease or a PPA) can still access the 48E business credit through the statutory window, but that credit is claimed by the system owner, not by you. Whether any of it reaches your monthly payment is a question for the contract, not the brochure.
New York's own credit is unaffected: Form IT-255 still gives 25% of qualified solar equipment cost, capped at $5,000 lifetime, with a five-year carryforward.
If a proposal for a Greece address still shows a 30% federal credit, ask the salesperson to point you to the IRS guidance that allows it. There is not any. Current program status →
Price
What Greece homeowners are actually quoted
| System size | Cash range | Financed range | Likely dealer fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 kW-DC | $16,800–$22,200 | $21,000–$28,800 | $4,200–$6,600 |
| 8 kW-DC | $22,400–$29,600 | $28,000–$38,400 | $5,600–$8,800 |
| 10 kW-DC | $28,000–$37,000 | $35,000–$48,000 | $7,000–$11,000 |
| 12 kW-DC | $33,600–$44,400 | $42,000–$57,600 | $8,400–$13,200 |
Observed GridReady quote and bill review sample · verified Apr 2026
The gap between cash and financed pricing is not a discount for paying cash.
When a lender offers a 2.99% solar loan, someone pays for the difference between that and the real cost of money. That someone is you, through a dealer fee the installer pays the lender and then adds to your contract price. In New York we typically see $0.60 to $1.20 per watt of dealer fee inside financed proposals — on a 9 kW system that is $5,400 to $10,800 you are financing on top of the actual system. It is legal, it is standard, and it is almost never disclosed as a line item. Ask every installer for their cash price and their financed price on the same system. The difference is the fee.
The line items that move the price in Greece
- Electrical scope. Typical existing service here is 100-200A. Dominated by 1946-1965 tract housing. Original 100A services are common, and many were never upgraded past the first kitchen remodel. A panel upgrade is $2,500–$5,000 and it is the single most common change order in this market — get it priced before you sign, not after.
- Structural spec. Lake Ontario Plain design ground snow load is 50–80 psf. Racking has to be engineered and stamped for it, and that is a genuine cost difference against a quote from a lower-snow region.
- Roof condition. Nobody should mount an array on a roof with under ten years left. If yours is older, the honest sequence is roof first, then solar — and any installer who waves that away is telling you something about themselves.
- Tree work. Wind exposure along the immediate shore is significant. Shading fixes are rarely in the first quote.
- Interconnection and permitting. Permits come from Town of Greece Building Department. Permits are issued by your town, city, or village — not the county. Timelines and fees vary block to block across a single county.
Production
What a roof in Greece actually makes
Specific yield band
1,080–1,220 kWh / kW-DC / yr
South-facing, near latitude tilt, low shading.
Modeled NREL PVWatts v8 · verified Jan 2026
Winter quarter share
10% of annual
December, January, and February combined.
Derived NREL PVWatts v8 · verified Jan 2026
Mean annual snowfall
80–140 inches
heavy lake-effect exposure from Lake Ontario.
Modeled NOAA/NWS seasonal snowfall records · verified Jan 2026
Days with snow on the array
25–55 per season
Panels shed faster than shingles — glass is slick and the array runs warmer than the roof around it.
Observed GridReady quote and bill review sample · verified Jan 2026
Weather realities specific to this area
- Because Ontario does not freeze, this belt keeps producing snow into March in a way the Erie belt does not.
- The first few miles inland from the shore see sharply more snow than the shore itself. Elevation gain of even a couple hundred feet shows up in the totals.
- Fruit-belt agriculture along the shore means open land and generally unshaded roofs.
What that means for the roof
- Wind exposure along the immediate shore is significant.
- Snow load rises quickly with distance inland. Two addresses in the same town can carry different design loads.
More on the seasonal picture for this whole county: Monroe County weather and solar.
The bill
What solar does — and does not do — to a RG&E bill
All-in rate
$0.17–$0.24/kWh
Delivery plus supply plus surcharges. Divide your own bill total by your kWh to see where you sit.
Filed RG&E residential rates and tariffs · verified Apr 2026Delivery plus default supply plus surcharges. Divide your own bill total by your kWh to find where you sit in this band.
Basic service charge
$25 / month
Charged at zero kWh. Solar never removes it.
Filed RG&E residential rates and tariffs · verified Apr 2026Basic service charge, billed regardless of usage.
Customer Benefit Contribution
$11 / month at 9.5 kW
$1.16 per kW-DC per month on systems interconnected since January 2022. It scales with system size, which is why oversizing costs you twice.
Filed Customer Benefit Contribution (CBC) rates · verified Jan 2026The second-highest CBC in the state. On a 10 kW-DC system that is roughly $140 a year, every year.
Annual offset value
$1,744–$2,782
From 10,260–11,590 kWh at the all-in rate.
Show the arithmetic
10,260–11,590 kWh × $0.17–$0.24/kWh all-in = $1,744–$2,782 of bill offset a year.
The RG&E basic service charge of $25 a month survives any amount of solar. Plus the Customer Benefit Contribution at $1.16 per kW-DC per month × 9.5 kW = $11 a month. Together that is about $432 a year you will still pay at a 100% offset.
Simple payback, honestly framed
| Purchase route | Payback range | What drives the spread |
|---|---|---|
| Cash | 9.6–20.2 years | Best case is the cheapest install against the highest offset value. Worst case is the reverse. |
| Financed | 12–26.1 years | The dealer fee is inside the price, so financed payback is structurally longer before you add a single dollar of interest. |
Show the arithmetic
Install cost ÷ annual bill offset. Cash: $26,600 ÷ $2,782 = 9.6 years at best, $35,150 ÷ $1,744 = 20.2 years at worst.
Simple payback, gross of incentives and before any rate escalation, degradation, or maintenance. It is a comparison tool, not a financial projection. The federal residential credit that used to shorten these numbers by roughly 30% terminated for expenditures after December 31, 2025 — so a 2026 payback figure that looks like a 2024 one is wrong.
RG&E catches worth knowing before you sign
- RG&E bills separate delivery and supply. The delivery half does not go away with solar, and it is the half that has been rising fastest.
- Rural single-phase circuits in this territory hit hosting-capacity limits sooner than urban ones. Check the hosting capacity map before you assume approval is automatic.
- The basic service charge continues at full offset.
Local reality
What actually matters in Greece
- Greece fronts Lake Ontario, which does not freeze — so lake-effect events here run into March, later than anywhere in the Erie belt. Winter production recovers later than a Buffalo-based model predicts.
- Wind exposure along the lakeshore is a real racking input on the northern edge of the town.
Greece by the numbers
The inputs this page is built on
Delivery utility
RG&E
Monroe County and a nine-county ring around Rochester.
All-in cost of power
$0.17–$0.24/kWh
Plus a $25 monthly basic service charge that solar cannot remove.
Filed RG&E residential rates and tariffs · verified Apr 2026Delivery plus default supply plus surcharges. Divide your own bill total by your kWh to find where you sit in this band.
Specific yield
1,080–1,220 kWh / kW-DC / yr
Lake Ontario Plain climate zone. Dec–Feb is about 10% of the annual total.
Modeled NREL PVWatts v8 · verified Jan 2026
Snow and design load
80–140" / yr · 50–80 psf
Heavy lake-effect exposure (Lake Ontario).
Filed ASCE 7 ground snow load data · verified Jan 2026
Elevation
350 ft
Elevation drives snowfall totals and design load more than latitude does in this part of the state.
Installer market
Active
Enough competition that quotes are genuinely comparable and price spread is meaningful information.
Permitting authority
Town of Greece Building Department
Permits are issued by your town, city, or village — not the county. Timelines and fees vary block to block across a single county. The NYS Unified Solar Permit is broadly used in this area.
Housing stock
100-200A typical
Dominated by 1946-1965 tract housing. Original 100A services are common, and many were never upgraded past the first kitchen remodel.
Reported monthly bills
$115–$200
Range that readers on this route have shared with us. Yours depends on usage, rate, and whether an alternative supplier is on your bill.
ZIP codes covered
14612, 14615, 14616, 14626
Coordinates 43.21, -77.69. Landmarks: Braddock Bay; Lake Ontario shoreline; the Ridge Road corridor.
Incentives
What is actually available in Monroe County
| Programme | Status | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| Federal 25D residential credit | Terminated | Ended for expenditures after December 31, 2025. Not available for a 2026 direct purchase. |
| NY State credit (IT-255) | Active | 25% of qualified solar equipment cost, capped at $5,000 lifetime, five-year carryforward. |
| NY-Sun (NYSERDA) | Block-based | Per-watt incentive that steps down as regional blocks fill. Applied by the installer, not paid to you. Check the current block before accepting an incentive figure. |
| Property tax exemption (RPTL 487) | Check your town | New York's RPTL § 487 gives solar a 15-year exemption from the property-tax increase the system would otherwise cause. Counties, towns, cities, villages, and school districts each opt out separately, so a single address can be exempt from one taxing jurisdiction and not another. Ask your town assessor which of your four taxing bodies have opted out before you let anyone put a property-tax number in a savings projection. |
| Sales tax | Exempt | Residential solar equipment and installation are exempt from New York's 4% state sales tax under Tax Law § 1115. The local county portion is exempt only where the county has elected it, and most upstate counties have. Check that your quote is not charging you sales tax it should not be. |
Program status changes. We track it on the rebate and deadline watch, with the date of every check.
Questions
Greece solar cost FAQ
- How much does solar cost in Greece, NY?
- Cash pricing in Greece runs $2.8 to $3.7 per watt before incentives, which puts a 9.5 kW system at roughly $26,600 to $35,150. Financed proposals for the same hardware typically land $0.60 to $1.20 per watt higher because a dealer fee is built into the price.
- How much electricity will solar actually produce in Greece?
- A 9.5 kW system on a good Greece roof produces roughly 10,260 to 11,590 kWh a year, based on a specific yield of 1080 to 1220 kWh per kW-DC. December through February contributes only about 10% of the annual total, so a proposal built on summer numbers overstates what you will see.
- Will solar eliminate my RG&E bill in Greece?
- No. The RG&E basic service charge of $25 a month survives any amount of solar. Plus the Customer Benefit Contribution at $1.16 per kW-DC per month × 9.5 kW = $11 a month. Together that is about $432 a year you will still pay at a 100% offset. That is what remains at a 100% offset, before you use a single kWh you did not generate.
- Is the 30% federal solar tax credit still available in Greece?
- Not for a direct purchase. The Section 25D residential credit terminated for expenditures after December 31, 2025. New York's own IT-255 credit is unaffected — 25% of qualified equipment cost, capped at $5,000 lifetime. If a Greece proposal still shows a 30% federal credit, ask for the IRS guidance that allows it.
- What is the payback period on solar in Greece?
- Simple payback runs about 9.6 to 20.2 years on a cash purchase and 12 to 26.1 years financed, before interest. That is a comparison tool, not a projection — it ignores degradation, rate escalation, and maintenance.
- Does snow make solar not worth it in Greece?
- Snow costs less production than people assume — panels shed faster than roofs because the glass is slick and the array runs warmer. Lake Ontario Plain roofs see roughly 25 to 55 days a season with enough cover to stop production. Cloud cover in November and December costs more than snow does. What snow really drives is the structural spec: design ground snow load here is 50 to 80 psf, and racking has to be stamped for it.
- Will solar raise my property taxes in Monroe County?
- New York's RPTL § 487 gives solar a 15-year exemption from the property-tax increase the system would otherwise cause. Counties, towns, cities, villages, and school districts each opt out separately, so a single address can be exempt from one taxing jurisdiction and not another. Ask your town assessor which of your four taxing bodies have opted out before you let anyone put a property-tax number in a savings projection.
Next step
Do one of these, not all of them
- Check a quote's $/W in 60 secondsDrop in the price and system size from any Greece proposal and see where it sits against the band on this page.
- Solar cost calculatorWork from your own bill and roof rather than from a market average.
- Upload the proposal PDF for an autopsyFinds the dealer fee, the escalator, and the assumptions the summary page leaves out.
Want a human read instead? Send us the proposal and we will tell you what it actually says. We are not installers and we do not sell your details.
Nearby
Places close enough to compare, and why they differ
- Rochester · 5 miA different climate zone, so different snow load and a different winter production picture.
- Irondequoit · 6 mi
- Brighton · 8 miA different climate zone, so different snow load and a different winter production picture.
- Henrietta · 11 miA different climate zone, so different snow load and a different winter production picture.
- Penfield · 12 miA different climate zone, so different snow load and a different winter production picture.
- Pittsford · 12 miA different climate zone, so different snow load and a different winter production picture.
Keep reading
More on Greece
- Greece backup power guideGenerator vs battery vs solar-plus-storage, against the local outage pattern.
- Getting quotes in GreeceWho quotes here, how the market behaves, and the tactics that show up locally.
- Greece home energy overviewEverything on one page: utility, climate, housing stock, and where to start.
- Monroe County overviewRochester is the county seat. Utilities, permitting, and the property-tax exemption picture.
- Rochester Gas and Electric rates and rulesFixed charge, all-in rate, Customer Benefit Contribution, and interconnection quirks.
How this page is built
This is a generated page: the structure is shared across locations, the numbers are not. Every figure comes from the source cited beside it, with the date we last checked it. Nothing here is a quote, an appraisal, or tax advice, and none of it is specific to your roof.
Rates and incentive programs change. We re-verify utility tariffs and NYSERDA program status on a rolling schedule and stamp the date on each number rather than on the page, so you can see which specific figures are fresh. Full methodology · Program status tracker · About the Local Energy Playbook
Page content last reviewed April 2026.