The Town of Clarkstown, interested in saving money on utility bills and reducing its carbon footprint, saw an opportunity to utilize vacant land at its landfill as the site of a solar farm. The Town selected H2M because of the firm’s extensive experience with landfills and NYSDEC regulations. The project comprised the evaluation and construction of a 13-acre photovoltaic solar field producing 2.364 megawatts of power—enough electricity to power approximately 2,000 homes annually. This solar field is the first of its kind in New York State to be built on a closed capped municipal landfill on a commercial scale.
H2M’s pursuit of NYSERDA grants ensured that this project, estimated to save the Town approximately $4.6 million in utility costs over 30 years, was constructed at zero cost to the Town. A 20-year Power Purchase Agreement was negotiated with the project developer on a leased portion of the Town landfill, allowing the Town to take over solar field operations after 20 years. The excess energy produced by the Solar Field is being sent back to the utility grid and the Town is credited the excess kilowatts.
In 2015, the solar field project was awarded Project of the Year by the New York State Society of Professional Engineers.
