NYIT's solar carport at the Old Westbury campus was unveiled in 2009.

NYIT has received a 6KC award from the nonprofit New York Solar Energy Industries Association (NYSEIA) for its solar carport projects on Long Island. The award, named for the estimated temperature of the sun (6,000 degrees Celsius), recognizes exemplary and innovative solar projects throughout New York.

“NYSEIA has been a pioneer in solar initiatives in New York for many years, and this award is an honor,” says Daniel Rapka, project manager of the solar carport project and mechanical engineering lab instructor at NYIT.

The carports, which were installed in 2009 at NYIT’s Central Islip site and Old Westbury campus, are part of the university’s “One Spot, One Car, One Commute” solar plug-in hybrid electric vehicle project. The carport shades parked vehicles while collecting energy from the sun and converting it into power to charge plug-in hybrid vehicles. In 2008, NYIT received a $500,000 federal grant that helped fund solar carport research.

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