Standard Solar completes 7.1 MW community solar project in New York

Standard Solar, a specialist in commercial and community solar assets, and SolarPark Energy, a New York-based community solar developer, completed a 7.1 MW community solar project in York, New York, bringing the state closer to achieving its goal of at least 10 GW of distributed solar by 2030, enough to annually power nearly 700,000 average-sized homes.

Standard Solar funded the construction and will own and operate the project. SolarPark Energy is the developer, and Catalyst Power Holdings LLC, a portfolio company of BP Energy Partners and an integrated provider of cleaner energy solutions for the commercial and industrial sector, is managing subscriber acquisition and customer service.

The single-axis tracker system is projected to produce approximately 10,794,000 kilowatt-hours annually and will allow local residents and businesses to benefit from clean energy savings by offsetting their electricity bills with solar energy. The project is dedicated to the late Thomas Guzek, founder of SolarPark Energy, a company that was created in 2015 as a result of energy policy changes made by the New York State Public Service Commission. Guzek, who was an entrepreneur in renewable energy development, along with his investors and partners saw great opportunity in bringing the benefits of this new energy policy to a focused area of Western, Central and Upstate New York.

The project is complete and fully subscribed through Catalyst Power. New York’s community solar program enables residents and businesses to save up to 10% on their utility bills while supporting local green energy development.

“New York’s community solar program is among the fastest and easiest ways for businesses to save money while supporting the local community,” said Gabe Philips, CEO of Catalyst Power.

In March, New York officials announced the state had reached a milestone of more than 1 GW of community solar generation capacity installed across the region. According to New York Governor Kathy Hochul, New York has the nation’s largest pipeline of community solar under construction, with more than 700 projects in the queue. That milestone positions New York as the top community solar market in the United States. In addition to being the leader in installed community solar, New York sets an example for the speed at which these projects become operational. Prior to 2018, New York had few community solar installations. Today, not only is New York the leader for community solar installations, but is installing new projects twice as fast as second-place Massachusetts, according to the Solar Energy Industry Association (SEIA) and Wood Mackenzie’s Solar Market Insight 2021 Year in Review report.