03 June 2011
National Grid, an international energy delivery company, today presented a $225,000 Renewable Energy and Economic Development grant to the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) of the University at Albany in New York.
The money will help enable a green energy initiative that will establish a Photovoltaic Control and Monitoring Center (PVCMC) at CNSE's Albany NanoTech Complex. This is the first grant to be awarded in eastern New York as part of National Grid's Renewable Energy and Economic Development Program and will support future solar power generation systems across New York State.
The $225,000 National Grid grant will be used to develop, install and demonstrate a state-of-the-art control and monitoring center. The PVCMC will enable the gathering of real-time research data that will provide designers, architects and installers with critical feedback to accelerate the construction and integration of roof-mounted PV systems across New York, fueling increased deployment of green energy in homes and businesses. The UAlbany NanoCollege will partner with EYP Energy and Alteris Renewables to establish the PVCMC, which is part of a larger $1.35 million solar demonstration initiative to evaluate and compare state-of-the-art, thin film-based solar PV technologies as a means of accelerating the use of clean energy technologies.
This grant demonstrates National Grid's continuing commitment to CNSE. In 2008, National Grid supported CNSE with a grant for $250,000 to offset the costs incurred by building a new substation for the facility.
