Solar power installation in Liberty

By Duncan Hutchison | Manor Ink Mentor

Ferndale, NY – The importance of the benefits of clean energy are undeniable. Solar energy production, in particular, generates energy without the greenhouse gas emissions and negative environmental effects that come with the use of finite fossil fuels. This helps reduce air pollution, mitigate climate change and limit the harmful impacts on ecosystems and human health.

For these and other reasons, travelers along Harris Road in the Town of Liberty will be encouraged to see a new solar farm taking shape in our area.

At an approximate cost of $3.6 million and covering slightly over 20 acres, the new facility built by Meadow and its development partner, Delaware River Solar, the state’s leading community solar provider, is expected to go “live” in the next few weeks, producing up to 2.64 megawatts of power.

Solar farms, known as photovoltaic systems, are large areas of land with connected solar panels that harvest clean, renewable solar energy at a lower cost than other forms of power. So-called “community solar farms” are specifically designed to appeal to customers who, for whatever reason, cannot take advantage of solar power opportunities on their own property.

Meadow currently has over 24,000 homeowners, renters, businesses, farmers, non-profits, corporations and municipalities that take advantage of the 50-plus solar farms it manages throughout the state. While space is limited to the number of farms online and the amount of energy created, anyone who directly receives a utility bill is eligible to join the program and take advantage of the discounted energy it provides.

The program works as follows: residents and/or businesses subscribe to a solar farm, each of which can support between 500 to 1,000 customers. The solar farm sends its generated energy to the utility grid, creating solar credits. Currently amounting to a total annual direct cost savings to customers of $2.1 million, the utility applies these solar credits proportionally to each subscriber’s electric bill.

Savings are approximately five to ten percent of customers’ total electric costs and appear as a discount on their usual utility invoice.

Meadow’s farms, which generate 237 million kilowatts per year, offset the equivalent of 185 million lbs. of coal burned per year, equalling a reduction in the atmosphere of 379 million tons of carbon dioxide.

To learn more, visit meadow.energy.

Reporter Aidan Dusenbury-Dalto contributed to this story.