Ribbon cut at Alvin Road community solar farm

Story and Photo by Alice Gerard

Senior Contributing Writer

Nautilus Solar Energy and its partner, EnergyMark, celebrated the opening of the Community Solar project with a ribbon-cutting on Sept. 3 at the 5.5-megawatt community solar farm at 2180 Alvin Road.

The solar farm is approximately 40 acres in size. Underneath the solar panels is a field of bright yellow native plants, including goldenrods and bearded beggarticks, which attract bees, butterflies and other pollinators. It is anticipated this facility will provide electricity to an anchor business subscriber, as well as 850 residential subscribers.

It is expected the solar farm will be operational within the next two weeks, said Eric LaMora, executive director of community solar at Nautilus Solar Energy.

“We are not yet fully interconnected with the grid. We’ve passed all our testing. We’re just waiting for the utility to give us the final permission to operate. Then this will be a fully operational solar farm,” he said.

The goal of community solar is to make solar energy more affordable and accessible, LaMora said: “Community Solar is really an important program that has allowed for anyone to have access to the benefits of solar energy. Historically, solar’s only been available to people who could put solar panels on their houses.

“People can save 10% on their energy charges, which is an incredible benefit. It allows low-income households and people in disadvantaged communities to have access to the benefits of solar energy.

“When we talk about energy and savings, one of the things to note is that low-income households typically on an average spend about 9% of their income on utility expenses. That’s a huge percentage. A 10% savings may not sound like a big amount, but when almost 10% of your income is going toward those costs, it can make a pretty big difference in your monthly bills.”

New York State Sen. Sean Ryan agreed with LaMora about increased access to solar power. He said, “For a long time, if you wanted to get solar power, you had to put panels on your house. I live in an area that’s got a lot of heavy shade trees. The solar folks come out here and say, ‘You’re not going to produce enough to make it worth it.’ Some people are renters. Other people are low income, and they are closed out of the solar market until we came up with this new formula.

“Instead of having to put panels on your house to access solar energy and clean electricity, you could just subscribe. It’s like when you get a farm share. So, instead of getting squash and zucchini, you’re getting clean energy.’’

Luke Marchiori, executive vice president of EnergyMark, said of that company’s collaboration with Nautilus Solar Energy, “This is the second of 10 projects to come on line, and we couldn’t be more pleased. I would like to extend our deepest gratitude to the Town of Grand Island; Sen. Sean Ryan, who is a tremendous advocate and steward for the renewable energy sector; and all the community members who have been instrumental in bringing this project to fruition. Your commitment and collaboration have made this possible.”

The solar farm was placed on Grand Island because “an opportunity came up,” LaMora said. “We purchased it in the development phase. We didn’t develop it from the beginning. We had a partner that we worked with that developed it. We purchased it from them. We will be the long-term owner-operator of the project. So, our plan is to own it for the next 40 years.”

LaMora explained that all contractors who maintain the solar farm are local: “This is one of the things that benefits the local economy to come in and do maintenance on the site here. Whether it’s maintaining the plants or maintaining the panels, the inverters.”

“Community solar is rapidly emerging as the crucial component of New York’s ambitious clean energy strategy,” Ryan said. “It not only provides cost-effective, locally produced energy, but it also enhances grid reliability, creates valuable local jobs, and drives local development. The community solar industry is thriving.”

In addition, LaMora said, Island residents will benefit from the community solar project.

“Grand Island residents will get the benefit of the energy produced here,” he said. “The subscribers get the economic benefits, but the greater area really does get a lot of economic benefit because of the jobs that are created by bringing these projects in, as well as more growth of clean energy. You’re lucky in this area that you already had a lot of green renewable energy. This is just adding to that. It’s just making it better.”