Albany County is celebrating the completion of a new solar farm.
The five-acre array near the Albany International Airport is owned by Florida-based Calibrant Energy.
Democratic County Executive Dan McCoy says the 2.1-megawatt project is set to generate more than 2.8 million kilowatt hours of power annually and is part of his “green county” initiative.
“If we're going to change the laws and say, ‘you have to have greener buildings or do all this different stuff with your employees,’ then we have to do it from the top and show them ‘look, we're doing it. You can do it. We figured it out. You can figure it out,’” McCoy said.
That’s enough to power 270 homes — or, as was mentioned during Wednesday’s ceremony — enough to charge 650,000 iPhones daily.
A $350,000 state grant from the New York Power Authority supported the project's construction.
Republican Colonie Town Supervisor Peter Crummey says the solar farm magnifies economic development opportunities.
“The Town of Colonie is the portal into the Capital Region, we play host to this airport, and as a result, in the surrounding areas, it's vital that we continue to work cooperatively as to how we further develop this area,” Crummey said.
Reuben Hull, with LaBella Associates, oversaw the project’s planning, design, and construction engineering. He says, while designing any solar array is complicated, the site of this one added challenges. By way of disclosure, LaBella is a WAMC underwriter.
“This one in particular, where it's as close as it is to the radar tower, they have their communications network in the building next to the tower, and certainly interferences that may be between anything coming from this project interfering with their communications. And then they have a major communication line that goes from the tower to the airport itself, which we had to avoid,” Hull said.
He adds solar panel technology is rapidly evolving, meaning from the start of the planning stage to completion, which can take years, complete overhauls can be required. The final site is also smaller than the original proposal by about 40 percent.
The county will use the tax credit it receives for the project to help offset energy costs at county facilities, including its office building and Shaker Place Rehabilitation & Nursing Center.
Crummey agrees with McCoy that at a divisive moment politically, supporting one’s community can be non-partisan.
“I think we could benefit more if Washington, D.C. would look like a government that we have here in the town of Colonie. And routinely, I get to work with Dan McCoy as county executive on a variety of projects, and this symbolizes just one of those projects,” Crummey said.
