Going Solar in NYC | Years of Living Dangerously

I'm meeting Richard Kaufman, who's the Czar in charge of New York's energy.

"Hi, I'm Cecily."

"I'm Richard, nice to meet you, Leslie."

So we're at Jet Row. It's a restaurant supply store; it's one of the largest solar-powered buildings in New York.

"This is all solar?"

"Yes, the whole roof is filled with solar panels. There are solar panels that are on the roof, providing between thirty and forty percent of our total usage. We probably sell somewhere between fifteen and sixteen thousand SKUs, everything from fresh fish and produce to canned goods and equipment."

If you live in New York and you drive on the Bruckner Expressway, you can't help but see the giant roof with the solar panels.

"The state, under Governor Cuomo, has a support program. The idea of the support program is to provide enough support until the industry can stand on its own. Yeah, and under New York Sun, in many parts of the state, by 2020, the solar industry will require no further public support."

It's nice to see that she has this passion for renewable energy.

"I think she was surprised by the scope of the project itself, how large it was, and how much of a benefit that posed financially on the savings and on the betterment of the community by taking so much power off of the grid."

The challenge is that you have a hundred years of culture and business models that are changing.

"How do you change minds? What does it take to get these people at the top to make that change?"

Once we can show that this is something that works, we would expect that other states will support this, because this is an example of policy that is pro-innovation, promotes economic growth, and it's cleaner.