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Clean Energy Generation
Program Overview
Through the Clean Energy Program, DCAS works to expand distributed energy resources, including solar PV and energy storage installations across the City's portfolio of properties. The City has established a goal of installing 100 Megawatts (MW) of solar photovoltaic (PV) on City-owned buildings by the end of 2025. In 2020, DCAS assessed all City-owned buildings larger than 10,000 gross square feet for solar readiness and identified nearly 21 MW of rooftop solar potential. As of January 2022, DCAS's Clean Energy Program has solar installations in progress that are capable of generating 46 megawatts (MW) of solar power. Existing installations generate 16.2 MW of solar power.
Installations include solar on building rooftops and other innovative projects like solar canopies in parking lots, garages, and wastewater treatment facilities. Some installations feature battery storage that can supply electricity during a power outage.
DCAS also incorporates educational and workforce development opportunities into its clean energy efforts. DCAS funds the NYC Solar Schools Education Program, a solar training for teachers in public schools in partnership with the not-for-profit organization Solar One and offers solar training for City employees with a focus on operations and maintenance.
Relevant Local Laws
Local Law 24
In 2016, the City passed LL24 to enhance public awareness of the City’s efforts to install 100 MW of solar by 2025. Under LL24, DCAS is required to assess the solar PV potential of all City-owned buildings over 10,000 gross square feet once every two years. Special focus is given to identifying and quantifying potential capacity at solar-ready buildings, which are defined as buildings that have roofs that are no more than 10 years old and in fair or good condition.
Local Law 92 and Local Law 94
In April 2019, the New York City Council passed Local Law 92 (LL92) and Local Law 94 (LL94). These laws require all buildings undergoing roof decking replacement and any newly constructed buildings to have a sustainable roofing zone—a solar PV system, a green roof, or a combination of both. DCAS anticipates over 40 municipal projects in the next five years will have to comply with the laws. Considering this potential for new sustainable roofing projects, there is a strong likelihood that more solar PV will be installed across city buildings. According to a 2019 Mayor’s Office of Climate and Sustainability analysis, LL92 and LL94 are estimated to result in up to 35 MW of new solar capacity annually across public and private buildings.
Solar Progress
As of 2022, DCAS has installed 16.2 MW of solar PV panels across 110 buildings, fulfilling 16% of the City's goal to install 100 MW of solar by 2025. This represents a greater than ten-fold increase in installed solar capacity on City-owned buildings since 2014, when there was less than 1 MW installed.
How to Participate
DCAS selects City buildings for solar installations in close coordination with our agency partners. In general, we prioritize City buildings that are 10,000 gross square feet or larger, have roofs no more than 10 years old, and roofs that are in a state of good repair. Working closely with our agency energy partners, we identify facilities across our entire portfolio based on these criteria and install solar PV projects with the procurement mechanisms available to DCAS.
Current Project Locator
The following map shows the locations of current solar installations. Visit the borough links near the bottom of this page to go to an accessible version of the list of solar installations in each borough. Map updated March 2022.