A Solar Movement Grows in New York City

New York, a city of soaring towers and ever-changing shadows, has designs on something that requires open skies: solar power.

But building solar isn’t easy in the Big Apple. The constantly evolving nature of the city itself is a sticking point, said Peter Davidson, a Brooklyn-based solar developer and a former head of the U.S. Energy Department’s loan programs office. Roof topography, strict fire codes, zoning and setback rules all need to be considered. There just isn’t as much space as in the desert, or even suburbia.

“It’s a wild forest of problems to navigate here,” said T.R. Ludwig, chief ...