NEW PALTZ – SUNY New Paltz will $5 million for solar energy research.  The funding comes after Rep. Maurice Hinchey was able to amend a defense bill earlier this year in which the Department of Defense must purchase solar panels with at least 50 percent of American made materials.  Hinchey is a member of the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee.

“The provision of this funding is going to generate a greater stimulation, a greater insight, and more creativity in this critically important issue, which is designed to make this nation energy independent; make us able to generate more and more energy directly from the sun and use it in very solid and secure ways and ways that are going to be less and less expensive and more and more effective”, said Congressman Maurice Hinchey, who announced the funding Tuesday

SUNY New Paltz will work with The Solar Energy Consortium to develop solar technology, and the facilities to be used to conduct the research are expected in place within the next 18 months.

Funding will also be used by the college’s business school to develop a program to help regional solar companies work with the DoD to procure their products.

By working with the DoD, regional solar companies will have a solid customer base with plenty of funding as other countries like Germany and China continue to rapidly advance their solar technology research and manufacturing base.

“We have to understand we have contests, and that we have competition going in other countries,” said Hinchey. “What we have to do is be wiser, develop new technology and do it better.”