Monday, October 12, 2009 at 3:22:17 PM - by Jeanne Roberts

On October 7, New York State Governor David A. Paterson announced $10-million in ARRA (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act 2009) funding for solar photovoltaic (PV) energy projects.

The announcement furthers the governor’s goal of having 45 percent of the state’s electricity produced from renewable energy and energy efficiency measures by 2015, and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 80 percent from current levels by 2050.

It’s a remarkably challenging goal, given that the highest renewable portfolio standard (RPS), or mandate so far established is for Maine, where the Public Utilities Commission is shooting for 40 percent of electricity from renewables by 2017. The lowest is Pennsylvania, with a meager 8 percent by 2020. Even California, with its goal of 33 percent by 2030, falls behind the New York mandate (see list here).

The New York funding is available through the state’s NYSERDA (New York State Energy and Research Development Agency) program, which offers a wealth of tools, from technical assistance through business development to individual residential solar panel arrays.

Paterson is also pushing 100 megawatts of solar installation, to be managed through the New York Power Authority (NYPA), which is expected to make a formal request for proposals near, or after, year end. The 100 megawatts will come from solar power developers, as well as renewable power trade groups and NYPA customers interested in installing grid-tied PV systems on their businesses and homes. All systems would be owned, earning renewable energy credits, or RECs, and installed under a power purchase agreement (PPA) with NYPA. When completed, this solar expansion will double the state’s currently installed solar capacity by 500 percent.

Possible sites, aside from those already mentioned, include schools, government buildings, rural electric cooperative projects, and community owned municipal systems providing water and wastewater treatment, and electricity. Proposals for this phase (called the Competitive Capacity-Based Incentive Program) are due by 5 p.m., Eastern Time, on October 29. So far, 40 entities have expressed interest.

NYPA President and Chief Executive Officer Richard M. Kessel says early response to, and interest in, the proposed expansion is strong, particularly given the caveat that customers who don’t pay in to the state’s RPS (through a utility) will still have an opportunity to take advantage of ARRA funding.

The funding and NYPA program together are expected to lead to the creation of 50,000 new jobs in the state as a result of expanded use of clean energy technologies. As of September, the state’s unemployment figures stood at 9.6 percent – a figure that almost exactly matches national figures (of 9.8 percent) as of October 1.