Bill > A09624

This bill requires the State University of New York (SUNY) to install solar canopies, which are structures designed to capture solar radiation for energy production, on its campuses. Within one year of the bill's effective date, each SUNY institution must calculate the total area of its parking facilities suitable for solar canopy development. Based on this data, SUNY trustees will set a goal for each institution to use at least seventy-five percent of its eligible parking facility space for solar canopies by the year 2040. Furthermore, any new construction or renovation project on a SUNY campus that involves parking garages, open parking lots, or other parking facilities for public, employee, or paid use, or those constructed with state funding, must include solar canopies, unless the seventy-five percent goal has already been met. The bill defines "parking facility" broadly to include any parking area owned or operated by SUNY for various users, and "solar canopy" as a system for generating usable energy from sunlight.