Community Energy, Inc. today announced commercial operation of a 2.3 MW solar power plant delivering power to Clarkson University in the Town of Potsdam, NY.   The solar power will be delivered to the University under a 25-year Power Purchase Agreement and credited to the university’s utility account as part of the remote net metering program in New York State.

The Clarkson University Solar project is owned and operated by Community Energy and financed with an incentive from NYSERDA through the NY Sun Competitive PV Program, and debt financing provided by Key Equipment Finance, an affiliate of KeyBank and one of the largest bank-held equipment finance companies.

“Clarkson University is pleased to be setting an example for sustainability in the face of climate change,” said Jim Fish, Clarkson University’s Chief Financial Officer.  "We wanted to purchase local solar energy and leave a smaller carbon footprint.  And as a research university we also wanted this project as a ‘living laboratory’ to educate all of us, and especially our students as the next generation of leaders, on clean, sustainable energy.  In partnership with Community Energy we accomplished those objectives with this solar project.”

Sited on land owned by the University about a mile from campus, the solar power plant uses 7,700 Yingli 300-watt solar modules interconnected to the National Grid distribution system at 13.2 kilovolts with Advanced Energy inverters.  The project will generate about 2.8 million kilowatt hours per year of solar-generated electricity, about 10% of Clarkson University’s campus electric use.

Namasté Solar, headquartered in Boulder, Colorado, served as general contractor with on-site construction work provided by Sustainable Energy Developments, based in Rochester NY.  Support for this project came from Governor Cuomo's NY-Sun initiative, which is administered by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). NY-Sun is a $1 billion initiative to advance the scale-up of solar and move the state closer to having a sustainable, self-sufficient solar industry.

“As the renowned research university they are, Clarkson University was a leader on this project from day one,” said Brent Alderfer, President of Community Energy.   “Their willingness to step up on climate change now, is how New York State will get to its goal of 1000s of megawatts of solar power sooner rather than later.”  He added, “NYSERDA gets credit for continuing to innovate and incentivize renewable energy in New York, and we look forward to working with both NYSERDA and KeyBank in financing more solar projects like this one.”

Clarkson University
www.clarkson.edu
 
Community Energy
www.communityenergysolar.com

Key Equipment Finance
www.keyequipmentfinance.com