The Hewlett Harbor native feels so strongly that Long Island can become a “clean island,” he left his job in Japan selling stocks to institutional investors to study energy management at The New York Institute of Technology in Old Westbury.

There, Schieren was team leader for “Green Machine/Blue Space,” a 2005 NYIT project home that competed in the Solar Decathlon, a national competition to design, build and operate the most attractive, effective and energy-efficient solar-powered house.

That project, which used a hydrogen fuel cell, provided enough lessons for Schieren to form EmPower, a clean energy consulting company based in Hewlett. Their goals are to reduce energy costs, end Long Island’s dependence on fossil fuels and improve the environment.

The startup’s initial customer base will be those who can afford the impact of the substantial investment. Installation costs of a 10 kilowatt system on an average Long Island home could range from $80,000 to $100,000 before incentives and tax rebates. Schieren said that through LIPA, state and federal programs, consumers could recoup as much as $50,000.

“The reality is that energy prices have really increased. Home owners have come to us and want to do something similar to the Solar Decathlon house themselves,” Schieren said. “It’s a low cost way to add power capacity for power companies. It’s smart policy because they don’t have to build additional plants. People are committed to energy independence and willing to pay a premium for solar power.”

Chris Powers, a spokesman for the DOE Solar Decathlon, said that while it’s expensive to build power systems that don’t rely on the power grid, the cost can be recovered over time.

Schieren also said that the principles behind the NYIT project house could be commercialized for relief efforts, providing portable emergency shelters.

The NYIT entry was built on Long Island, shipped by truck to the National Mall in Washington, then back to the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, where it resides today. It also was on display at the Nassau Coliseum.

NYIT Dean of the School of Architecture and Design Judith Di Maio said the house could be used to help out in Hurricane Katrina type relief efforts. “Ultimately, you could move these houses on trucks,” she said.

NYIT was once again selected for the 2007 competition, and will receive a $100,000 grant towards the project from the Department of Energy. Powers said the technologies developed for this competition will become government property.

“At the end of the event, we produce a massive technical report on what worked and what didn’t work well,” he said. The report is open for public review.

The competition was open to colleges and universities, but NYIT was the only tri-state area team to participate. In 2005, NYIT was the only team to embrace a hydrogen fuel cell for energy storage. The other designs all relied on banks of battery packs.