The Business Review

The cost of going solar has dropped in New York by 44 percent over the past five years, a trend that's playing out across the country.

Solar energy has become one of the fastest growing industries in the nation, according to a report by the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

It was up to 14 percent cheaper to install residential and commercial solar systems last year than it was in 2011, according to the report. Prices have dropped an average of up to 7 percent per year since 1998.