State awards several CNY solar projects NY-Sun funding

Nearly 50 solar-electric projects at businesses and schools between Central New York, the Mohawk Valley, the Southern Tier, and the North Country will benefit from NY-Sun awards.

The regional award recipients are among 142 projects to which the state awarded a total of $94 million.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the awards in a news release his office distributed on Friday.

The projects will increase New York’s solar capacity by more than 214 megawatts, a 68 percent increase over the amount of solar installed and “in the pipeline” at the end of 2013, Cuomo’s office said.

“Today we are making another long-term investment in our clean-energy economy … with nearly $100 million in funding that will dramatically increase our capacity to generate and utilize solar energy across the state,” Cuomo said in the news release.

New York obtained the new capacity through the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority’s (NYSERDA) competitive PV program, which has been working to “stimulate” the market for systems larger than 200 kilowatts for four years, Cuomo’s office said.

PV is short for photovoltaic, the types of materials and devices that convert sunlight into electrical energy, according to energy.gov, the website of the U.S. Department of Energy.

The $94 million in funding for these projects leverages private investment of $375 million in new PV power-infrastructure projects, according to Cuomo’s office.

A total of 50 project sites are located at businesses; 41 at schools and school districts; 36 at municipal and other government facilities; and 15 at nonprofits, health-care institutions and colleges, according to the governor’s office.

The 13 Central New York award recipients include seven project sites in Onondaga County, one in Cortland County, three in Madison County, and two in Oswego County. The sites include the Liverpool School District and Onondaga County, Cuomo’s office said, according to the governor’s office.

The 20 project sites in the Mohawk Valley include one in Fulton County, six in Herkimer County, seven in Oneida County, one in Otsego County, and five in Schoharie County. More specifically, they include three sites in the city of Utica, one site at the Oneida County Sheriff’s Office, and one site in the city of Amsterdam.

A total of eight awards will benefit solar activity in the Southern Tier. They include Vulcraft of New York, Inc. in Chemung, Vanguard Printing in Ithaca, and the Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport, Cuomo’s office said.

The six North Country award recipients include one project site in Clinton County, three in Jefferson County, and two in St. Lawrence County. More specifically, they include ConMed Corp. in Philadelphia in St. Lawrence County; the Ogdensburg Bridge and Port Authority; and the Plattsburgh Airport, according to Cuomo’s office.

NY-Sun is part of Cuomo’s “commitment to protect the environment, grow the clean-energy economy, and lower energy costs for all New Yorkers,” his office said.

It is a public-private partnership to “drive growth” in the solar industry and make solar technology more affordable, it added.

Since Cuomo launched NY-Sun in 2012, contractors have installed, or are under contract to install, a total of 316 megawatts of solar electric, a figure that represents “more than was installed in the entire prior decade,” Cuomo’s office said.

The NY-Sun initiative brings together and expands existing programs that the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, Long Island Power Authority, PSEG Long Island, and the New York Power Authority administer to ensure a “coordinated, well-funded solar-energy expansion plan and a transition to a sustainable, self-sufficient solar industry,” the office said.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com