New York City Is Going Solar

Flat-roofed homes in Brooklyn are increasingly turning to solar energy options, catching up to their sloped-roof neighbors in Staten Island and Queens, the New York Times reports.

Queens currently has the largest number of solar-powered homes, with more than 7,000 — most of them single-family houses, according to information from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, which tracks the industry. Staten Island is a close second.

But despite scattered efforts through the years, solar panels have been a tougher sell in densely settled precincts in Manhattan and Brooklyn, where flat-roofed apartment buildings are the norm.

Manhattan, shadowed by skyscrapers, still lags in the residential department, with about 500 installations, according to the state agency. That makes Brooklyn, with 3,100, many of them added in the last few years, so notable. The borough’s typical stock includes rowhouses with a few units occupied by a landlord and a couple of tenants.

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