The planned Coatesville Solar Initiative in Caln Township is a 7.2 Megawatt solar farm.
A much larger 32 Megawatt solar farm is in service in the North East. The Long Island Power Authority, BP and Brookhaven National Laboratory project in Upton, NY is functioning well in an environmentally sensitive watershed. The Long Island site is important not only for its size. It is on Brookhaven National Laboratory land. Brookhaven has a testing facility to test new solar technology at the solar farm site.
"LIPA, BP Solar and Brookhaven National Lab Flip the Switch at the Long Island Solar Farm
Largest solar project in New York State seen as key to Long Island’s energy, economic, and environmental future
Solar farm will produce enough energy to power up to 4,500 Long Island homes avoiding the use of fossil fuels
(Upton,
NY) - Officials from the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA), BP
Solar International, Inc. (BP Solar), Brookhaven National Laboratory and a host
of government officials and environmental leaders today celebrated the
completion and commissioning of the Long Island Solar Farm (LISF) Project.
Owned by BP Solar and Met Life, the LISF installation is part of the largest
solar energy project in the state of New York, the largest photovoltaic array
in the eastern U.S., and among the largest in the nation constructed on federal
property. The 32-megawatt (MW) LISF, which is made up of 164,312 solar panels
hosted at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory,
also boasts the smallest footprint for a solar array of its output, further
solidifying Long Island as a national leader in clean, renewable energy."
Readers Choose the Long Island Solar Farm as Excellence in Renewable Energy Winner | Renewable Energy Video
February 16, 2012
"Representatives from the Long Island Solar Farm discuss the unique solar project, a 32-MW solar farm in New York, which was the recipience of the Readers' Choice Award in the 2012 Excellence in Renewable Energy Awards.
"The Northeast, with
its less favorable climate and harder-to-come-by open space, isn’t known for
its large-scale potential. Even in a place like New Jersey — the second
biggest solar market in the country — installations are mostly limited to
residential and commercial rooftops.
So it can be seen as a
bit of a surprise when one of the year’s largest solar developments pops up in
a place like Long Island. Located on federal land at the U.S. Department of
Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory, the largest solar project in the
northeast overcame several siting challenges because of its proximity to World
War II artifacts, environmentally sensitive habitat, radiological contamination
and the presence of the endangered tiger salamander.
The 32-MW project will
sell all of its power to the Long Island Power Authority under a 20-year power
purchase agreement.
In addition to the
power produced, the Long Island Solar Farm helped establish the Northeast Solar
Energy Research Center and Lab where researchers will use the project to
examine solar integration into the grid. Officials hope research and development
done onsite will help further drive down the cost of solar and will drive up
the implementation of the technology in the northeast where cloud shadow,
snowfall and overall climate provide challenges far different than the concerns
found in the southwest."
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