Difficulties of solar energy in NY city

The New York governor Andrew Cuomo is a leader of policies to support the shift to a renewable energy. The state requests half of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030. With a governer that embraces change for solar energy and several agencies backing as well. With these factors, we’d assume New York City would be a booming market for distributed solar. There’s no shortage of rooftop space and affluent building owners. About 380,000 millionaires, the highest number and proportion of the U.S. couldv’e influenced things. Despite this, the rooftop market is stalled compared to the rest of the state.  This is in stark contrast to Long Island who  reached about  160 MW of installed residential PV alone. This provides twice the distributed solar capacity. The Upstate region of New York reached 175 MW of installed residential PV and 125 MW of small C&I PV. There are reasons for why with solar energy isn’t as embraced in New York city. 
 

Department of Buildings (DOB) stalls 
 
The procedure for securing permits for solar PV through the city’s Department of Buildings (DOB) turns out to be a scene from a soap opera. It takes a year to get a permit for a PV system at this time. There are extreme delays since the department can’t handle the sheer volume. The New York Solar Energy Society (NYSES) states that the lack of a solar-specific internal team at the department combined with the inability to submit electronic filings is to be of partial blame.  To make matters worse,there isn’t coordination between the electrical and construction units of DOB. This adds more frustration to the procedure of securing permits. Some inspectors will fail you while others will pass you. It takes 6 months to get results and even then you’re not guaranteed a secured permit. Delays and more delays have caused solar energy prospects to cancel thus solar companies losing out on potential profit. 
 

FDNY mandates clearance around roofs 
 
Building owners note the size of a PV system that can put on their rooftops is often too small. There’s a limited portion of this space that can be used for rooftop PV. The Fire Department City of New York (FDNY) mandates clearance around roof vents and obstructions and 6 foot (1.8 meter) clearance around the perimeter of a flat roof. This requirement gives access for firefighters using aerial ladders. In some circumstances, firefighters may require more venting that could lead to cutting the roof to ventilate the heat and smoke. From one delay to another, some solar companies started to wonder when this will all be resolved. With their valid concerns and more installation obstacles to face, the potential profits appear more bleak. 

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