Solarize Campaigns (Group-Buy Solar)

Administered by: No single statewide administrator. Individual campaigns are run by municipal partners, regional nonprofits, and NYSERDA Clean Energy Hubs. NYSERDA references the model across its program directory. Status: Active in 2026 (campaign availability varies by municipality and by season) Verified: May 27, 2026 against NYSERDA All Programs Directory and active campaign pages Source quality: Secondary

What it is

Solarize is a campaign model, not a single program. A municipality, a regional nonprofit, or a NYSERDA Clean Energy Hub runs a time-limited group purchase of rooftop solar (and, increasingly, heat pumps, heat pump water heaters, or weatherization) inside a defined service area. Homeowners enroll during an open window. One or two installers are selected through a competitive process and offer a fixed price for the duration of the campaign. The price typically declines in tiers as the total contracted volume grows.

The model came out of Portland, Oregon in 2009 and was picked up across New York starting around 2013. Today campaigns run under names like Solarize Westchester, Solarize Tompkins, Solarize Hudson Valley, and Solarize Capital Region, plus heat pump variants like HeatSmart and weatherization variants like Solarize Plus. The brand is not trademarked. Any local group can call its campaign "Solarize" without state oversight, which is the main thing to know before you sign anything.

Where Solarize differs from standard solar shopping is the sequencing. In a typical install you collect three quotes, evaluate equipment and warranty terms, and negotiate price one-on-one with each installer. In a Solarize campaign the installer and the price are already set. Your job is to decide whether the campaign price beats what you would get on your own, whether the installer is the one you want, and whether the deadline forces a decision you would otherwise want more time on.

Who qualifies

Homeowners inside the service area of an active, currently-open campaign. Each campaign defines its own footprint, usually one or a small cluster of municipalities.
A roof or ground-mount site that the campaign installer determines is suitable for solar. Site assessment is part of the enrollment flow.
Property ownership documentation. Renters cannot enroll directly; in some campaigns a renter can ask the landlord to enroll the property.
Compliance with the campaign's deadlines: enrollment cutoff, site assessment cutoff, and contract-signing cutoff. Miss any of them and the campaign price expires.
For income-qualified households outside an active Solarize footprint, Solar for All is the parallel route into community solar without a rooftop install.

What you get

Pricing under a Solarize campaign is typically below standard market pricing for the same equipment, because volume and a streamlined sales process cut overhead for the installer. Published savings figures across past New York campaigns have ranged from roughly 10% to 20% below market, but the actual number depends on the specific campaign, the tier reached, and what your address would have quoted at retail. Treat any published figure as illustrative until you see the campaign's own price sheet.

What you do not get from Solarize:

A rebate. Solarize lowers the sticker price. The rebate stack (NY-Sun, the state tax credit) is separate and stacks on top.
A guarantee. The installer's standard equipment warranty and workmanship warranty apply. Campaign-specific guarantees, if any, are written into the contract.
Long-term price protection. The campaign price is good for the window. After it closes the installer reverts to standard pricing.

How to apply

Confirm an active campaign covers your address. Sustainable Westchester, HeatSmart Tompkins, the regional Clean Energy Hub, or your municipal sustainability office are the places to check. Campaign websites list service-area maps.
Enroll on the campaign site during the open window. Enrollment is usually free and non-binding.
Receive a no-cost site assessment from the selected installer. The assessment confirms roof condition, shading, electrical capacity, and system size.
Review the written proposal. The proposal should show gross system cost, the NY-Sun rebate net out, the post-rebate price, and the expected state tax credit. If any of those line items is missing, ask for it before signing.
Sign the contract before the campaign closing date. The campaign price does not survive an expired window.
The installer handles interconnection paperwork with your utility and files the NY-Sun rebate. You claim the NY State Solar Tax Credit on your state return for the year the system is placed in service.

How this stacks with other programs

A Solarize install in New York stacks cleanly with the rest of the state solar incentive stack. The pricing discount, the upfront state rebate, and the state income tax credit are independent levers.

Solarize discount + NY-Sun. The campaign price replaces the installer's standard quoted price. NY-Sun then reduces that price further as an upfront incentive, usually paid through the installer at install. The campaign and NY-Sun are not the same money.
Solarize discount + NY-Sun + NY State Solar Tax Credit. The 25% state credit (capped at $5,000) is calculated on your net out-of-pocket cost after the campaign price and the NY-Sun rebate. For most full-size residential systems you still hit the $5,000 cap.
Solarize as an alternative to NY-Sun Community Solar. If your roof does not work for rooftop solar, the community solar route gives you bill credits without an install. Some Solarize campaigns include a community solar referral path for participants whose sites do not pencil out.
Solarize and Climate Smart Communities. Solarize campaigns most often launch in CSC-registered or certified municipalities, because the town already has the sustainability staff and resident outreach in place. CSC does not fund the campaign. The municipality, the regional nonprofit, or a Hub does.
County-specific routes. Westchester County campaigns run through Sustainable Westchester. Tompkins County campaigns run through HeatSmart Tompkins and Cornell Cooperative Extension. Other counties run through their regional Clean Energy Hub.

For background on the equipment side of a solar decision, see the Solar buyer's guide.

What to ask your contractor

Before signing under a Solarize campaign:

Is your company NYSERDA-approved (i.e., on the NY-Sun participating installer list)? A campaign installer that is not on the NY-Sun list cannot file your upfront rebate, which collapses the stack.
What is the campaign deadline for enrollment, site assessment, and contract signing? Are those dates published anywhere I can verify against the municipality's announcement?
Is the campaign price truly fixed for the system size you are quoting, or is it a starting price that adjusts at the design stage?
Does the price include interconnection fees with the utility, the building permit, and the electrical permit, or are those billed separately?
What equipment (panel brand and model, inverter brand and model) does the campaign price specify? Substitutions are a common renegotiation lever.

Common pitfalls

"Solarize" campaigns run by non-vetted vendors. The term is not trademarked. A door-knocking salesperson can call any deal "Solarize" without a municipality, a nonprofit, or NYSERDA standing behind it. The real campaigns are listed on the municipality's website or the regional nonprofit's site. If the campaign is not listed there, it is not the real campaign.
Expired pricing being "honored." Once the campaign window closes, the installer is under no obligation to hold the campaign price. Verbal assurance that the price still applies is not enforceable. Sign during the window or expect to renegotiate.
Vendor-specific equipment lock-in. A campaign typically standardizes on one panel brand and one inverter brand. If you want a specific module (a high-efficiency panel, a microinverter system, a particular battery pairing) the campaign installer may not offer it. Going outside the campaign brings the price back to market.
Site assessment outcomes used to upsell. A site assessment that finds shading or electrical-panel limitations sometimes leads to add-on quotes (tree work, panel upgrades, structural roof reinforcement) that erase the campaign discount. Get the assessment in writing and price the add-ons separately.
Confusing the campaign with the rebate. The Solarize discount is not the NY-Sun rebate, and it is not the state tax credit. All three are separate. The contract should itemize the campaign price, the NY-Sun rebate, and the projected tax credit on separate lines.

Important dates

Solarize campaigns run on rolling, municipality-specific windows. There is no statewide enrollment window. Typical campaign cycles run two to six months from launch to contract-signing cutoff, with site assessments concentrated in the first half of the window. Specific deadlines are published on the campaign page for each town or region. Past campaigns have run in Westchester, Tompkins, Albany, Saratoga, Ulster, and Dutchess counties among many others. Confirm what is active right now before relying on the campaign price.

Source

NYSERDA All Programs Directory (retrieved May 27, 2026; Solarize is referenced across the program directory and within Clean Heating and Cooling Communities)
Sustainable Westchester Residential Solarize program page (retrieved May 27, 2026; example of a current Solarize campaign model in operation)
HeatSmart Tompkins (Solar Tompkins) (retrieved May 27, 2026; example of a campaign that extended the Solarize model into heat pumps and weatherization)
NY-Sun Participating Contractors (retrieved May 27, 2026; the authoritative list of NY-Sun-approved installers referenced in Section 6)
Solarize program history, U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office (retrieved May 27, 2026; secondary source for the Portland, Oregon origin and the general group-buy model)

NYSERB.com is an independent research site. It is not affiliated with NYSERDA, Sustainable Westchester, HeatSmart Tompkins, the State of New York, or any utility. Verify all program details and incentive amounts directly with the campaign administrator before making any financial decision.

Verified against www.nyserda.ny.gov, sustainablewestchester.org, www.heatsmarttompkins.org on May 27, 2026.