The company was selected in 2021 to install rooftop and brownfield solar and energy storage systems across over 100 sites for three dozen municipalities and school districts in Westchester County, N.Y.
Ecogy Energy, a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based solar development company, announced the start of development of a set of rooftop and brownfield community solar and energy storage projects in Westchester County, N.Y.
The company was selected in a 2021 request for proposal (RFP) calling for for up to 34 MW of solar projects across more than 100 rooftop sites. The RFP was issued by the New York Power Authority (NYPA) and Westchester County under the Community Distributed Generation (CDG) partnership program.
Ecogy is securing preliminary agreements with the first municipality in a series of upcoming projects and has obtained approvals for Con Edison interconnections and incentives from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA).
“This partnership provides a streamlined way for governments, schools and non-profits to directly support renewable energy development for their constituencies, while benefiting financially and supporting local and state environmental goals,” said Gil C. Quiniones, NYPA president and CEO.
The program is aimed at bringing the benefits of distributed solar and energy storage to those that don’t have the resources or suitable installation sites to invest in solar directly themselves.
Eight school districts and 25 municipalities submitted more than 100 sites for consideration to date, and the CDG program remains open to more applications. Eligible sites include landfills, remediated brownfields, or other unused land parcels for ground-mounted systems, parking lots or garages for canopy mounts, and rooftops. NYPA’s Clean Energy Solutions team offers strategic and technical assistance to program participants.
“Prioritizing the underserved is a key project element we focus on as part of our role in helping to realize the state’s bold clean energy transition. Community partnerships will serve as a blueprint for renewable energy development for years to come and we are hopeful that our best-in-class examples here in New York State will serve to inspire the rest of the nation,” said Justin E. Driscoll, NYPA CEO.
The projects support the state’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) implementation targets of 3,000 MW of energy storage and 6,000 MW of distributed solar PV, working towards 70% renewable energy by 2030.
Ecogy’s participation as developer builds on its experience in the region, which includes the first community solar projects in Yorktown, Croton-on-Hudson, and Ossining, N.Y., as well as the largest solar canopy array in Westchester County developed for the Maryknoll Society.
The company plans to install its energy monitoring device, the Econode, to enable each project to benchmark consumption and drive efficiency improvements through second-by-second data analysis. Each of the projects will have their data accessible, not only to municipalities and subscribers, but also to NYPA’s energy management platform, the New York Energy Manager (NYEM). NYEM is designed to grow the data pool used to improve energy efficiency statewide.
Recently, Ecogy announced the construction of a 120.1 kW rooftop solar system for the Red Cross in Tinton Falls, N.J. The installation will make the building net zero. Ecogy will sell the power produced by the system back to the Red Cross through a power purchase agreement. In exchange, Ecogy will retain the Solar Renewable Energy Credits (SREC) generated for each MW of solar energy produced.
