Work continues on solar project
System could be working by end of July, manager says
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. >> Work continues on the 2.5 megawatt solar energy park at the old landfill on Weibel Avenue.
City officials and Onyx Renewable Partners hosted a groundbreaking ceremony for the project last month.
Project manager Brian DeMaio said the project’s about 35 percent completed at this point.
“We’re looking to have all the modules installed by the end of this month,” DeMaio said.
The project calls for just shy of 8,000 solar panels.
“[By the end of May] we should have all the of the solar panels actually mounted to the racks and be done with that part of the project,” DeMaio said. “And then we will simultaneously have our electrical guys following up behind them with the electrical portion of the install; so we’re really tracking to be completed and have the system energized sometime towards the end of July.”
In 2012, Sustainable Saratoga first presented the idea to City Council. The project then began four years ago as part of the state’s NYSERDA Cleaner Greener Communities program.
The city is not providing funding for the project.
Onyx Renewable Partners stepped in to handle the contract after a bankruptcy prevented the previous company from moving forward with the solar farm. The
solar array is expected to cover about 40 percent of the city’s utility costs.
Last month, Commissioner of Finance Michele Madigan, who is leading the solar energy park project, said this is first phase of what is planned. The city continues to look for ways to help the climate and environment through smart, renewable energy projects, she said.
“A second phase is planned and that’s called community solar, and that will be perhaps an additional, large solar park on the scale we’re talking about ... that will be primarily for small businesses, residents, homeowners, renters, non-profit organizations, so that’s a second phase that we are still working on,” she said.