Long Island snares 2 manufacturing grants

Not-for-profit FuzeHub has directed two state-funded grants to develop innovative manufacturing on Long Island.

One $50,000 grant went to Stony Brook University's College of Engineering and SuperClean Glass Inc., whose self-cleaning technology removes dust from solar panels and maximizes power output.

Long Island High Technology Incubator Inc. and Unique Electric Solutions received the other $50,000 grant.

Unique Electric Solutions retrofits gas-powered buses and commercial vehicles with electric, hybrid or fuel cell drivetrains. The funding will go toward establishing a pilot production line ahead of a potential battery manufacturing facility.

Overall, FuzeHub announced nearly $700,000 in grants through the Innovation Fund backed by Empire State Development's Division of Science Technology and Innovation.

Alexander Orlov, a professor of materials science and chemical engineering at Stony Brook University, is founder and chief executive of Stony Brook-based SuperClean Glass.

UES, based in Stony Brook, has worked on conversions for food trucks, school buses, UPS trucks and other vehicles.

SuperClean Glass aims to address the problem of dust that accumulates on solar panels and reduces output.

That issue is particularly acute in desert areas where sun is abundant, but water, for washing the panels, is scarce.

The company is developing low-power electrodes that will create an electrical field that repels dust from the solar panels and maintains their efficiency.

Another $50,000 grant went to the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation and Clip.Bike Inc., Brooklyn-based maker of a portable, rechargeable device that converts a standard bicycle and to an e-bike.

By Ken Schachter

kenneth.schachter@newsday.comkschach

Ken Schachter covers corporate news, including technology and aerospace, and other business topics for Newsday. He has also worked at The Miami Herald and The Jerusalem Post.