A New York congressman”™s input in a solar energy investment bill could help bring the state a share of $350 million to $550 million annually in federal funding for solar energy research and development.
The U.S. House of Representatives recently approved the Solar Technology Roadmap Act, legislation that charts a plan for solar energy investments in the nation over five years. The bill authorizes $350 million for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to carry out the program in fiscal year 2011, rising to $550 million in fiscal year 2015.
Similar legislation has not yet been introduced in the Senate.
The House measure establishes a comprehensive roadmapping process to guide the department”™s investment in solar technology research, development and demonstration. It directs the secretary of energy to award grants based on merit and specifically to target grants for industry-led consortia for solar manufacturing. The process is modeled on the successful National Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors, which has been instrumental in helping semiconductor technology advance rapidly over the past two decades.
A spokesman for Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-22nd District, said the nine-term congressman from Ulster County added a provision to the bill requiring DOE officials to spread the investment funds across the U.S., unlike previous allocations that were heavily focused in the Southwest. It requires DOE”™s adviser on the new initiative, a solar technology roadmap committee, to be comprised of persons representing diverse regions of the nation. Hinchey”™s addition also ensures the roadmap addresses the need to make solar technologies widely available and used nationwide, his spokesman said.
“With a lot of hard work over the past several years, we”™ve established New York as a hub for solar energy research and development, and positioned the state to be on the receiving end of the federal research dollars that will be obligated as a result of this bill,” Hinchey said in a prepared statement. “Solar and other forms of renewable energy will be a leading sector of our economy for years to come and we are making sure New York is right there at the front of this green industrial revolution.”
Officials at The Solar Energy Consortium (TSEC) in Kingston, an industry-led, 2-year-old nonprofit group that supports research, development and pilot manufacturing to build a solar technology industry cluster in New York state, lauded Hinchey for his action on the bill. “Since solar and environmental conditions differ across the nation, this idea makes good sense and will help to optimize solar energy generation by region,” said consortium President Vincent Cozzolino. “This positions New York state to take advantage of the intent of this legislation.”
Hinchey”™s spokesman said the congressman has secured more than $20 million in federal funds for the Hudson Valley solar consortium and its partners. That figure will increase to nearly $30 million when additional funding is announced in the coming weeks.
According to Hinchey”™s office, the consortium has partnered with more than 70 small and large companies, including nearly a dozen that have already created 200 jobs in the Hudson Valley and collectively plan to bring more than 1,000 new jobs to upstate New York within the next five years.
