A recently approved New York State Public Service Commission plan is expected to help thousands of homeowners and businesses install solar panels, fuel cells, wind turbines and other renewable energy devices, with a $279 million funding package coming from the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standard initiative.
The funding will support customer sited renewable energy projects over a five year year period. For the smallscale funding program, equipment up to 50kW will be eligible for funding, which breaks down into $144 million for solar photovoltaic projects, $70.5 million for anaerobic digesters, $21.6 million for fuel cell projects and $18.1 million for small wind turbines. For the first time, solar thermal projects will also receive support, with that technology allocated $24.7 million.
New York is striving to meet a target under its RPS to source 30% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2015. The Public Service Commission estimates that the program could help produce 466,000 megawatt-hours of renewable electricity generated over its five year period – enough power to supply 72,000 homes.
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