NEW YORK—Installing solar in New York City should get a little easier, thanks to a new project called SMART NY, which aims to breakdown some of the bureaucratic barriers currently in place. The plan was announced by CUNY, on behalf of New York City, at the NYC Solar Summit, Thursday.
“Part of the reason it has been slow to take hold here is because we haven’t made it easy to do,” Cas Holloway, New York City deputy mayor for operations said. “We are going to make it easy, if you have the resources, to install solar in New York City.”
SMART NY, which stands for Solar Market Analytics, Roadmapping, and Tracking NY, is the collaboration of 30 partners and agencies from the city and state level, in both the public and private sector.
Obtaining a permit for solar installation has been a huge roadblock in increasing the solar output in the city.
“We have an internal goal of getting the permitting process for solar from 12 months a year ago down to 100 days. Right now we are at seven months,” Holloway said. “We are ruthlessly driving toward the 100-day goal.”
The reason for the long wait was applicants had to go through a multitude of government agencies, none of which were talking with each other. Forms, with much of the same information, often had to be submitted to multiple agencies.
