February
2018 

SAVE THE DATE

NY SOLAR+STORAGE
SUMMIT
JUNE 19TH, 2018

 



 

 
 Need a pathway to storage for your NY Town, Village or City? 


Email  DGHUB@cuny.edu


 



Find your solar potential at nysolarmap.com
DE BLASIO ADMINISTRATION LAUNCHES
NEW SOLARIZE CAMPAIGN IN BROWNSVILLE
To further accelerate the adoption of solar energy, the de Blasio administration announced   Solarize Brownsville , a new community group purchasing campaign that will serve the neighborhood of Brownsville, Brooklyn.The campaign is part of Solarize NYC , a citywide program administered by the NYC Solar Partnership and designed to increase adoption of solar in communities that have historically lacked access to clean energy. Mayoral Media Release
Nehemiah Economic Development, Inc. who is managing the campaign, has released a
Request for Proposals for Solar Installers, open until March 27th.
SAVE THE DATE
NY SOLAR+STORAGE SUMMIT
JUNE 19th, 2018

TOGETHER
#empowerDG

The twelfth annual  2018 Solar+Storage Summit takes an innovative approach by bringing together experts across industries to work with policy and utility leaders to find actionable solutions that can transition from our current state to a more sustainable future. Sponsors contact nysolar@cuny.edu
THE VALUE OF DISTRIBUTED ENERGY RESOURCES:
A WORK IN PROGRESS
Sustainable CUNY continues to hold workshops and meetings with NYC solar installers, NYSERDA, and the NYS Public Service Commission (PSC) on the impact of the Value of Distributed Energy Resources (VDER) in NYC. VDER is a new methodology that takes the first step in moving beyond Net Energy Metering to a more accurate valuation and compensation for Distributed Energy Resources. Solar Installers can find more information specific to NYC here
PSC RAISES CAP FOR PROGRAM-ELIGIBLE SOLAR PROJECTS
The PSC issued an order last week increasing the size of solar projects that are eligible for compensation under VDER from 2 MW to 5 MW. The PSC decision is aimed at taking advantage of lower per-unit costs for larger projects, with particular emphasis on community shared solar systems that "will benefit substantially from economies of scale" by participating in VDER.
NYCHA PROGRAM IS NOW ACCESSolar; NEW SITES ADDED
The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) is renaming its Public Purpose Shared Solar program   ACCESSolar to better reflect the program's goals. The acronym stands for ACcelerating Community Empowered Shared Solar. Additionally, NYCHA has updated the list of sites available in the first phase of the program, adding more than 100 sites. The updated list of sites is available on the NYC Open Data Portal. NYCHA expects to open the application process in March.
NYSERDA RELEASES PROPERTY TAX CALCULATOR
In response to local government requests for guidance on assessing large solar systems for tax purposes, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) has released a Property Tax Calculator to assist taxing jurisdictions in New York State in valuing solar projects greater than 1 MW. The new Calculator can be found by visiting NYSERDA's Solar Guidebook for Local Governments and going to the "PILOT Toolkit" drop-down menu.
CUNY | CON EDISON ANNUAL NYC SOLAR INSTALLER WORKSHOP
Sustainable CUNY and Con Edison are hosting the annual NYC Solar Installer workshop on March 12th, register now. This complimentary workshop is held at the Con Edison Learning Center for contractors, architects, engineers, electricians, and filing representatives who specialize in solar energy systems and/or energy storage and who would like to learn the relevant NYC permitting and code requirements.
LOOK FOR CUNY AT NY-BEST: CAPTURE THE ENERGY
NY-BEST is hosting its 8th annual "Capture the Energy" Conference on March 13-15, 2018 at the new Albany Capital Center in Albany, NY. Speakers include Tria Case, CUNY University Director of Sustainability and Energy Conservation,Lead for NYSolar Smart and NYC Solar Partnership as well as Solar Ombudsman Derric Meister. Sustainable CUNY has partnered with technical advisors and municipalities under a comprehensive NYSERDA-sponsored initiative to develop permitting processes and standards for energy storage, reduce soft costs of installing batteries and encourage wide-scale adoption for New York State. Smart DG Hub Resources
HIRING TECH SOLAR OMBUDSMAN
CUNY is seeking a Technical Distributed Generation (DG) Ombudsman/Engineer to contribute to the technical aspects of the various programs under management by Sustainable CUNY. Apply Here
NY SOLAR ANALYTICS
NYSOLAR SMART PARTNER JURISDICTIONS
SOLAR SNAPSHOT
ALBANY

 
FROM THE DIRECTOR
CUNY's work goes far beyond the classroom. Working with communities like Nehemiah Economic Development, Inc., on their Solarize Brownsville campaign gives action to the rising voices that want access to solar power and to distributed generation on their rooftops.  As America's largest urban university CUNY is leveraging its expertise in partnership with diverse communities to mitigate the economic and environmental threats posed by climate change. Our Solar Ombudsmen are implementing solarize and community shared solar programs to expand access to clean and renewable energy across New York City and we are excited to be working with our partners in Brownsville.  #EmpoweringDG
Tria Case, University Director of Sustainability and Energy Conservation at CUNY, Lead for NYSolar Smart, NYC Solar Partnership.
NYSolar Smart is a strategic effort led by Sustainable CUNY of the City University of New York that supports Federal, State and NYC solar initiatives to strategically remove barriers to large scale solar deployment.