Richmond (Staten Island) County · New York City · Con Edison
Staten Island solar installation: actual costs and production
What a solar system really costs in Staten Island, what it will actually make on a New York City roof, and the part of your Con Edison bill it cannot touch. Every number below shows where it came from and when we last checked it.
The short version
A 10 kW system in Staten Island
Cash price, before incentives
$27,000–$36,000
$2.7–$3.6 per watt
Observed GridReady quote and bill review sample · verified Apr 2026
Financed price, same system
$35,000–$51,000
$3.5–$5.1 per watt. The gap is the dealer fee, not a cash discount.
Observed GridReady quote and bill review sample · verified Apr 2026
Annual production
12,000–13,400 kWh
Dec–Feb contributes only 1,680–1,876 kWh of that.
Modeled NREL PVWatts v8 · verified Jan 2026
What the bill will not lose
$395 / yr
The Con Edison basic service charge of $22 a month survives any amount of solar. Plus the Customer Benefit Contribution at $1.09 per kW-DC per month × 10 kW = $11 a month. Together that is about $395 a year you will still pay at a 100% offset.
Show the arithmetic
10 kW-DC = 10,000 watts. At the saturated market cash band of $2.7–$3.6/W that is $27,000–$36,000. At the financed band of $3.5–$5.1/W it is $35,000–$51,000. The gap is the dealer fee.
Show the arithmetic
10 kW-DC × 1200–1340 kWh per kW-DC per year (New York City specific-yield band) = 12,000–13,400 kWh a year. December through February is 14% 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 Staten Island 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 Staten Island homeowners are actually quoted
| System size | Cash range | Financed range | Likely dealer fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 kW-DC | $16,200–$21,600 | $21,000–$30,600 | $4,800–$9,000 |
| 8 kW-DC | $21,600–$28,800 | $28,000–$40,800 | $6,400–$12,000 |
| 10 kW-DC | $27,000–$36,000 | $35,000–$51,000 | $8,000–$15,000 |
| 12 kW-DC | $32,400–$43,200 | $42,000–$61,200 | $9,600–$18,000 |
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 Staten Island
- Electrical scope. Typical existing service here is 100-200A. Mostly 1965-1990 subdivisions. 100A to 150A originals with a fair number of 200A upgrades already done. 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. New York City design ground snow load is 20–30 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. FDNY and DOB access-path requirements can remove a third of a small flat roof from usable area. Shading fixes are rarely in the first quote.
- Interconnection and permitting. Permits come from NYC Department of Buildings (Staten Island borough office). 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 Staten Island actually makes
Specific yield band
1,200–1,340 kWh / kW-DC / yr
South-facing, near latitude tilt, low shading.
Modeled NREL PVWatts v8 · verified Jan 2026
Winter quarter share
14% of annual
December, January, and February combined.
Derived NREL PVWatts v8 · verified Jan 2026
Mean annual snowfall
20–40 inches
No lake-effect exposure.
Modeled NOAA/NWS seasonal snowfall records · verified Jan 2026
Days with snow on the array
3–10 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
- Weather is not the constraint here. Roof area after FDNY access pathways, adjacent-building shading, and Con Edison network export rules are.
- Flat roofs dominate, which means ballasted racking and a tilt decision rather than a fixed roof pitch.
- Urban heat island effect slightly reduces panel efficiency in summer relative to a suburban roof at the same latitude.
What that means for the roof
- FDNY and DOB access-path requirements can remove a third of a small flat roof from usable area.
- Parapet and adjacent-building shading is the dominant loss on low-rise rooftops.
- NYC's property tax abatement for solar is a distinct, city-only incentive with its own application. Do not confuse it with the state credit.
More on the seasonal picture for this whole county: Richmond (Staten Island) County weather and solar.
The bill
What solar does — and does not do — to a Con Edison bill
All-in rate
$0.31–$0.40/kWh
Delivery plus supply plus surcharges. Divide your own bill total by your kWh to see where you sit.
Filed Con Edison residential electric rates · verified Apr 2026The highest residential all-in cost in the state by a wide margin, and the reason downstate solar pencils on a much shorter horizon than upstate.
Basic service charge
$22 / month
Charged at zero kWh. Solar never removes it.
Filed Con Edison residential electric rates · verified Apr 2026Basic service charge. Con Edison also layers a per-kWh delivery charge on top.
Customer Benefit Contribution
$11 / month at 10 kW
$1.09 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 2026
Annual offset value
$3,720–$5,360
From 12,000–13,400 kWh at the all-in rate.
Show the arithmetic
12,000–13,400 kWh × $0.31–$0.40/kWh all-in = $3,720–$5,360 of bill offset a year.
The Con Edison basic service charge of $22 a month survives any amount of solar. Plus the Customer Benefit Contribution at $1.09 per kW-DC per month × 10 kW = $11 a month. Together that is about $395 a year you will still pay at a 100% offset.
Simple payback, honestly framed
| Purchase route | Payback range | What drives the spread |
|---|---|---|
| Cash | 5–9.7 years | Best case is the cheapest install against the highest offset value. Worst case is the reverse. |
| Financed | 6.5–13.7 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: $27,000 ÷ $5,360 = 5 years at best, $36,000 ÷ $3,720 = 9.7 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.
Con Edison catches worth knowing before you sign
- Secondary network distribution areas — much of Manhattan and dense parts of Brooklyn and Queens — restrict export. Some addresses can only install non-exporting systems, or need a network protector study first.
- Con Edison's interconnection review is the slowest of the New York utilities. Budget months, not weeks.
- A dedicated, accessible, lockable AC disconnect is generally required.
Local reality
What actually matters in Staten Island
- Staten Island is the most solar-friendly part of New York City: detached single-family homes, radial distribution rather than secondary network, 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 genuine design input, not paperwork.
- NYC's own solar property-tax abatement is a separate, city-only incentive with its own application. It is not the state credit and it is not the expired federal one.
Staten Island by the numbers
The inputs this page is built on
Delivery utility
Con Edison
New York City (all five boroughs) and Westchester County.
All-in cost of power
$0.31–$0.40/kWh
Plus a $22 monthly basic service charge that solar cannot remove.
Filed Con Edison residential electric rates · verified Apr 2026The highest residential all-in cost in the state by a wide margin, and the reason downstate solar pencils on a much shorter horizon than upstate.
Specific yield
1,200–1,340 kWh / kW-DC / yr
New York City climate zone. Dec–Feb is about 14% of the annual total.
Modeled NREL PVWatts v8 · verified Jan 2026
Snow and design load
20–40" / yr · 20–30 psf
No lake-effect exposure.
Filed ASCE 7 ground snow load data · verified Jan 2026
Elevation
60 ft
Elevation drives snowfall totals and design load more than latitude does in this part of the state.
Installer market
Saturated
Heavily worked market. The lowest cash prices and the highest financed prices in the state coexist here.
Permitting authority
NYC Department of Buildings (Staten Island borough office)
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
Mostly 1965-1990 subdivisions. 100A to 150A originals with a fair number of 200A upgrades already done.
Reported monthly bills
$175–$310
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
10301, 10304, 10306, 10308, 10312, 10314
Coordinates 40.58, -74.15. Landmarks: the Verrazzano Bridge; the Staten Island Greenbelt; Great Kills Harbor.
Incentives
What is actually available in Richmond (Staten Island) 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
Staten Island solar cost FAQ
- How much does solar cost in Staten Island, NY?
- Cash pricing in Staten Island runs $2.7 to $3.6 per watt before incentives, which puts a 10 kW system at roughly $27,000 to $36,000. 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 Staten Island?
- A 10 kW system on a good Staten Island roof produces roughly 12,000 to 13,400 kWh a year, based on a specific yield of 1200 to 1340 kWh per kW-DC. December through February contributes only about 14% of the annual total, so a proposal built on summer numbers overstates what you will see.
- Will solar eliminate my Con Edison bill in Staten Island?
- No. The Con Edison basic service charge of $22 a month survives any amount of solar. Plus the Customer Benefit Contribution at $1.09 per kW-DC per month × 10 kW = $11 a month. Together that is about $395 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 Staten Island?
- 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 Staten Island proposal still shows a 30% federal credit, ask for the IRS guidance that allows it.
- What is the payback period on solar in Staten Island?
- Simple payback runs about 5 to 9.7 years on a cash purchase and 6.5 to 13.7 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 Staten Island?
- Snow costs less production than people assume — panels shed faster than roofs because the glass is slick and the array runs warmer. New York City roofs see roughly 3 to 10 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 20 to 30 psf, and racking has to be stamped for it.
- Will solar raise my property taxes in Richmond (Staten Island) 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 Staten Island 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
- Bayside · 23 miQueens County — different assessor, different permitting.
- Yonkers · 29 miA different climate zone, so different snow load and a different winter production picture.
- Freeport · 30 miFreeport Electric instead of Con Edison — different rate, different program eligibility.
- Levittown · 35 miPSEG-LI instead of Con Edison — different fixed charge and a different Customer Benefit Contribution.
- White Plains · 37 miA different climate zone, so different snow load and a different winter production picture.
- New City · 40 miO&R instead of Con Edison — different fixed charge and a different Customer Benefit Contribution.
Keep reading
More on Staten Island
- Staten Island backup power guideGenerator vs battery vs solar-plus-storage, against the local outage pattern.
- Getting quotes in Staten IslandWho quotes here, how the market behaves, and the tactics that show up locally.
- Staten Island home energy overviewEverything on one page: utility, climate, housing stock, and where to start.
- Richmond (Staten Island) County overviewStaten Island is the county seat. Utilities, permitting, and the property-tax exemption picture.
- Consolidated Edison 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.