New York City · Tier 3 coverage
Richmond (Staten Island) County solar, storage, and backup power
Staten Island is the county seat. 495,747 people, served primarily by Con Edison. Everything below is built on public data with the source and date attached.
County facts
Richmond (Staten Island) County at a glance
Population
495,747
County seat: Staten Island
Filed U.S. Census 2020 Decennial Census · verified Jan 2026
Primary utility
Con Edison
Single utility across the county.
Primary climate zone
New York City
1,200–1,340 kWh per kW-DC per year; 20–40" of snow.
Modeled NREL PVWatts v8 · verified Jan 2026
Design ground snow load
20–30 psf
What racking here has to be engineered for.
Filed ASCE 7 ground snow load data · verified Jan 2026
Median home value
$620,000
Context for whether a 25-year financed system is proportionate to the asset.
Modeled U.S. Census American Community Survey 5-year estimates · verified Jan 2026ACS 5-year estimate, rounded to the nearest $5,000.
Median household income
$95,000
Relevant to EmPower+ and income-eligible program screening.
Modeled U.S. Census American Community Survey 5-year estimates · verified Jan 2026ACS 5-year estimate, rounded to the nearest $5,000.
Local reality
What is specific to Richmond (Staten Island) County
- Staten Island is the most solar-friendly part of New York City: detached single-family housing, radial distribution, real roof area, and Con Edison's rates. It is the borough where residential rooftop actually pencils most easily.
- South Shore flood zones affect where inverters and batteries can be mounted. Post-Sandy elevation requirements are a real design input.
Geography that shapes it: the Verrazzano Bridge, the Greenbelt, the South Shore.
Taxes and permits
The three local rules that change your numbers
| Rule | Status here | What to do about it |
|---|---|---|
| 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 on residential solar | 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. |
| Permitting | Varies by municipality | 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 adopted in this area, which shortens review where it is used. |
Town by town
1 place in Richmond (Staten Island) County
| Place | Utility | Market | Guides |
|---|---|---|---|
| Staten Island | Con Edison | Saturated | CostsBackupQuotes |
Go deeper
Utilities and climate for this county
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 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 →
Nearby counties
Other New York City counties
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.