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Steinway and Sons has been making world-famous pianos since 1853, but now the sprawling factory is about to get a 21st century upgrade. Thanks to federal tax credits and partial funding from a grant from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, the company has installed the “largest solar-powered rooftop system of its kind in the world” to help cool its manufacturing facility in Steinway.

The new system being installed on the roof of the 11-acre site will help engineers study a new technique that links solar power to air conditioning.

“It’s a research grant, because this is the first integration of these two systems,” said Ken May, a division director for Abengoa Solar, the company that is making the solar panels. When combined, the process becomes “a very innovative technology. Each has been individually operational, but never linked.”

Asked to explain the process in layman’s terms, May began with the parabola shaped solar panels themselves. “You point these things at the sun and they track it and move throughout the day. The sun’s rays are reflected from these mirrors to a small pipe mounted on the collector.”

The pipe needs to get very hot, to about 320 degrees, and then a fluid is heated by passing through it. That fluid is then sent to the chiller, which uses this heat to create refrigeration, “like a refrigerator that runs on propane, for example” May said.

The chiller will be used to cool the air and stabilize the humidly in the manufacturing department of Steinway. The chiller itself requires about 90 kilowatts of electricity, or roughly equivalent to the central cooling systems of 40 homes.

The project began in early 2008, when Energy Resource Solutions, a group of engineers that consult businesses on improving energy efficiency, approached Steinway and Sons with a proposal to set up this case study at their facilities. The project’s total cost is $875,000, but that price was offset by a grant from NYSERDA and federal tax credits, making Steinway and Sons’ contribution to the project “roughly $422,000,” according to Steinway Facilities Manager Bill Rigos. “We’re hoping for the system to pay back our portion within four to five years.”

“Green initiatives have to make business sense to us,” Rigos said. “We’re not spending all this money to look flashy or green… it has a sufficient financial payback.”

The grants and tax breaks allow the company to make the project financially viable. Once Steinway and Sons realized the experiment would benefit the bottom line, they agreed and are now eagerly awaiting the end of construction in May.

“A lot of people are afraid of green initiatives because they are costly,” Rigos said. “So combining such an initiative with economic sense makes it much easier to engage in such an innovative project.”

By doing such a study in Queens, NYSERDA hopes to develop better alternatives for cooling cities without adding strain to the traditional power supply. “The northeast region contains a large number of flat rooftop buildings [like the Steinway factory],” Rigos said. He explained that these roofs typically create what is called an “island effect,” which means that because the heat has nowhere to dissipate, the building is hotter and takes more resources to cool. “So with this technology, we’re trying to utilize that same flat roof to actually provide free cooling,” Rigos said.

The results of the project will be publicly available and used to advance and promote the technology. “We’re hoping what we learn from this experiment can be transferred to places where there is a lot of sun and need for air conditioning,” May said. “You can take this technology and stick it on the roof of just about every large building that needs cooling. The Wal-Mart’s, hospitals, government facilities: you name it.”

Even with all this optimism, the sun will not shine all the time. If Steinway & Sons needs supplemental energy, it can burn natural gas as a backup if the solar does not meet the demands.

“And in the winter, when there is no need for air conditioning,” said May, “Steinway is going to use this technology to make steam for both heating the building and for the piano manufacturing process.”