New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) has made $30 million in funding available for solar and biogas projects in New York City and the Hudson Valley that generate more than 200 kilowatts of power.
The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority is seeking proposals for these projects by Dec. 30. Projects must be installed, interconnected to the grid and operational by April 30, 2015. The funding can be used to provide financing for half of total installed costs of systems and is capped at $3 million per project and $6 million per applicant.
The funding is part of the NY-Sun Competitive Photovoltaic Program, which was launched in 2012 and aims to significantly boost the state's installed capacity. Earlier this year, Cuomo made $54 million available under the program for 79 large-scale solar projects statewide that will add a total of 64 MW to the state's solar capacity.
New York state currently has 199 MW of installed solar capacity and ranks at No. 12 nationally in installed capacity, according to the trade group Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), Washington.
The NY-Sun program "represents an important boost to the state's solar industry," says an SEIA spokesman. The state has more than 400 solar companies that employ 3,300 workers, he says. "We expect these numbers to grow significantly next year because of smart public policies and a growing awareness of the cost-effectiveness of solar," he adds.
On the heels of Cuomo's Dec. 5 announcement, Ross Solar Group, a Danbury, Conn.-based solar designer and installer, announced the completion of New York City's largest rooftop solar installation, which also received funding from the NY-Sun program.
The 1.56-MW array on top of Jetro Cash and Carry's Hunts Point restaurant depot facility in the Bronx is also the first to integrate a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system. The SCADA system allows Con Edison to remotely monitor and control the array, thereby helping to protect the utility's customers against power outages, such as those that occurred during Superstorm Sandy, Ross Solar adds.
