Community solar farm opens on Grand Island

GRAND ISLAND, N.Y. (WIVB) — Nautilus Solar Energy opened what they call a community solar farm Wednesday on Grand Island.

Experts indicate that this will offset nearly 6,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions, which is equivalent to removing 1,400 cars from the roads. Additionally, neighbors can access the energy at no cost.

“One of our biggest challenges is that people think it’s too good to be true,” said Eric LaMara, the executive director of community solar at Nautilus Solar Energy.

On Wednesday, Nautilus Solar announced its new community solar farm located off of Alvin Road on Grand Island.

Spanning nearly 40 acres and consisting of a total of 10,000 solar panels, it is set to supply over eight million kilowatt hours of affordable renewable energy to 850 local subscribers and one commercial business in the National Grid utility area.

“You don’t have to have money to put panels on your roof. You don’t have to be able to get a loan,” LaMara said. “You can ultimately just sign up and you’re able to participate in the energy transition here in New York.”

WIVB News 4 spoke with a National Grid customer who enrolled in the community solar program. He reported that the sign up process was straightforward and free, requiring only a phone call to National Grid. He also mentioned that his monthly bill is expected to decrease by 10 percent.

“I looked into getting solar on my roof and I would be unfortunately not alive by the time it was paid off,” said Amherst resident Daniel Mink. “It’s not really very much, but I enjoy tapping into anything that’s earth conscious.”

The project aligns with New York State’s initiative, mandating that 70 percent of the state’s electricity be sourced from renewable resources by 2030, emphasizing support for low-income residents.

“We don’t have enough generating capacity to keep growing Western New York. We’re not building any more coal burning factories,” said New York State Senator Sean Ryan. “So the way we’re going to produce the energy to meet our growing electric need is by places just like this.”

In the long Western New York winter, will neighbors benefit from solar energy all year-round?

“This is a tracker system. So what that means is it actually follows the path of the sun. So we get maximum energy production all day long,” LaMara said. “But in the winter, when there’s a big snow snowstorm that hits, we have the ability to shake the snow off of the panels so that they can again be at peak production right away.”

The project has successfully passed all initial tests and is currently awaiting approval from National Grid to connect to the main grid, which is anticipated to occur within the next two weeks.

For more information on the project and to sign up click here.

Dillon Morello is a reporter from Pittsburgh who has been part of the News 4 team since September of 2023. See more of his work here and follow him on Twitter.