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Sandy-Ravaged Businesses to Get Solar Lighting Under $1.6M Federal Program

By Katie Honan | June 29, 2016 11:05am

ROCKAWAY PARK — More than 50 stores and businesses in neighborhoods left without power after Hurricane Sandy will be outfitted with solar and resilient lighting as part of an innovation contest, officials said.

The project, NYC Daylighting, was one of 11 winners selected through Resiliency Innovations for a Stronger Economy, or RISE, a business recovery program that challenged contestants to find new ways to "mitigate the impacts of climate change through the use of innovative technologies."

Winners received a share of up to $30 million in federal funds through Housing and Urban Development grants. 

Officials requested around $1.58 million in funds for the lighting program through the Community Development Block Grant given to the city following the 2012 storm, according to the City Record.

The project will provide 51 businesses, mostly on the Rockaway peninsula, with a special "Solatube" system that will cut the costs of business electric use and lighting in case of a power outage, according to RISE.

It ensures light using a high-tech process to capture natural sunlight and transport it to interiors in ways it couldn't before without windows. 

Other winning projects include Wi-Fi at the Red Hook Houses, flood-proofing measures and more.