Washington is awarding CUNY an $800,000 grant to fund a solar energy project.
The three-year initiative will investigate the role of solar energy in supplying power during emergencies.
During Hurricane Sandy, none of the more than 600 solar arrays on city rooftops were damaged, but none were able to provide electricity during the power outages that followed.
The CUNY project will develop an infrastructure plan to roll out thousands of solar panels across the five boroughs designed to help the city's resiliency in emergencies.