Oct. 28—ADAMS — Gary R. Tubolino, known for his Field of Dreams Genetics Inc., now has a field dedicated to sunbeams.
The 5-megawatt Tubolino Field of Dreams Solar Energy project under construction on his property on Grove Street is expected to be completed in the spring.
"It's a win-win situation," Tubolino said. "It's going to save on electric bills."
Customers can expect more "community solar" projects to come online.
The U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office is advancing the concept through the National Community Solar Partnership, a coalition of community solar stakeholders working to expand access to affordable community solar to power the equivalent of 5 million households by 2025 and create $1 billion in energy savings for subscribers.
This target represents a 700% increase in community solar deployment, growing from 3 GW of community solar in 2020 to 20 GW in 2025.
The U.S. Department of Energy defines community solar as any solar project or purchasing program, within a geographic area, in which the benefits flow to multiple customers such as individuals, businesses, nonprofits and other groups. In most cases, customers benefit from energy generated by solar panels at an off-site array. Community solar customers typically subscribe to — or in some cases own — a portion of the energy generated by a solar array, and receive an electric bill credit for electricity generated by their share of the community solar system.
Tubolino, whose company has provided dairy cattle genetics throughout the United States for decades, is leasing land to AES, the largest owner and operator of clean energy projects in New York.
AES, based in Arlington, Virginia, has been operating energy projects in the state for more than 20 years. It will also build Riverside Solar, a 100-megawatt solar facility in the towns of Lyme and Brownville. That project does not involve the community solar model.
"We are committed to working with our partners, customers and communities to build safe and reliable clean energy," said Sasha Kran, development manager at AES said.
Meanwhile in Gouverneur, PureSky Energy, based in Denver, is another company that has made inroads into community solar in the north country. It has a handful of community solar projects under construction in St. Lawrence County:
—Gouverneur Solar 1: 5,408 panels.
—Gouverneur Solar II: 13,572 panels.
—DeKalb Solar 1, Dekalb Junction: 15,652 panels.
—DeKalb Solar II, Dekalb Junction: 10,036 panels.
—DeKalb Solar III, in Richville: 10,374 panels.
A PureSky Energy spokesperson said that those solar farms are not yet operational, but many of them should be online before 2024.
In Adams, Kran said the Field of Dreams Solar Energy project is being built on approximately 24 acres. Tubolino said he's leasing a total of about 40 acres to AES.
AES has hired Soltec to install the project. Soltec, a global company based near Los Angeles, specializes in photovoltaic projects with solar trackers — devices that orient a payload toward the sun. The Field of Dreams project is a single axis tracker project. Such projects use a tilted photovoltaic panel mount and an electric motor to move the panel on an approximate trajectory relative to the sun's position.
Adams Mayor Philip F. Chatterton said Tubolino approached village officials a few years ago with his proposal, which then went to and was approved by the village's planning board.
Chatterton said the village was assisted in the project by Barton & Loguidice, Watertown. Barton & Loguidice is a multi-disciplinary consulting firm that provides technical assistance and solutions for such projects.
"We aren't engineers," Chatterton said. "We had Barton & Loguidice help us."
Chatterton said most of the project's 24 acres is in the village of Adams, but a small section is in the town of Ellisburg. He said there is no battery storage at the Field of Dreams Solar Energy project. Power produced will go directly to the grid.
In late July, a lithium-ion battery fire at the Convergent solar facility in Chaumont stressed area fire departments and other first responders. The fire burned for days before it was extinguished, causing evacuations and air quality alerts.
Even though there is no battery storage at the Field of Dreams Solar Energy project, Chatterton said, "When it gets done, we want a once-through with the fire department. If there's a fire, we want to be able to get to it."
COMMUNITY SOLAR BASICS
The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy says community solar can be an option for people who are unable to install solar panels on their roofs because they are renters, can't afford solar, or because their roofs or electrical systems aren't suited to solar.
In community solar projects, the local utility pays the community solar provider for the energy generated, and each subscriber receives a portion of the dollar value generated by their community solar subscription as a credit.
"The subscription structure is a guaranteed savings," AES's Kran said. She added that people can contact AES at communitysolar@aes.com to learn more about the Adams project.
Even though the solar energy's electrons from the Field of Dreams project will go into the grid, Kran added, "As this is a distribution-level project, ultimately it is most likely that those electrons would serve customers closest to the project."
According to an informational video from New York State Energy Research & Development Authority about community solar, customers who sign up for a project continue to get a monthly bill from their utility.
As a subscriber to the project, the solar energy produced will appear as credits on the bill, lowering the bill. In return, customers pay a fee for subscribing to the project but the credits received "will always be greater than the subscription fee."
Depending on the project, those subscription fees may be incorporated into a utility bill, or customers may receive a separate subscription fee from the solar provider.
Nexamp, founded in 2007 by two U.S. Army veterans, is another company installing community solar projects in the north country.
Some town of Watertown residents recently received a mailing ("Save 10% annually with Community Solar") from the company inviting them to take part in a community project.
According to the company's website, Nexamp "subscribers receive an average of $275 annual electricity savings, and partners share in the profits of our unique vertically integrated model."
Nexamp says it and other community solar providers receive state and federal incentives for community solar, which enable them to offer subscribers credits at a discount.
Katie Mueller is coordinator of community solar at PureSky, and typically the person who signs up many of the residential customers, as well as some small businesses to the company's community solar projects. "With our program specifically, we offer our customers a flat 10 percent savings on any community solar credits that we apply to their bill," she said.
She explained how the credits are figured.
"We typically like to get a customer's most recent utility bill," she said. "With National Grid, it will show the past 12 months of their usage. We will analyze their historical usage, and that will help us acurately produce a subscription for that customer, based on their personal usage."
Once a customer has a subscription, that person has a signed contract and will be added to a solar farm.
"Whatever credits are applied to their bill, they will receive a 10 percent discount," Mueller said. "Say they have a $100 National Grid bill. We apply $100 worth of credits to their bill and they would receive a 10 percent discount, so instead of paying $100, they would pay $90."
Mueller said that in New York state, solar companies are given two options as to how billing operates. Utility Consolidated Billing means a utility customer would get one bill, with the solar credits figured into it. "At the moment, we only have one project in New York that is non-UCB, so these customers would receive a second bill."
Mueller said that PureSky operates differently from many other community solar companies.
"Most community solar companies didn't build the solar farm," Mueller said. "They may have purchased it from a builder. There's not many like us who own and operate, so we kind of go through the entire process and we'll be around for the lifespan of the project. That's one thing that separates us from a lot of others."
MORE GRID ENERGY
National Grid spokesperson Jared Paventi said, "National Grid is committed to deliver clean, reliable, affordable electricity to its customers. Providing access to community solar projects is another way to get more renewable energy on the grid."
He explained that New York's deregulated energy supply market allows customers to choose what company provides their electricity supply.
"This is an important distinction," he said, "as there are two charges for the electricity portion of your energy bill: supply, or the amount of energy you use; and delivery, or the cost of delivering that energy to your home or business, including the maintenance of our transmission and distribution network."
Paventi said that customers who receive their electricity supply from National Grid pay the same wholesale rate that the company pays, with no markup.
"By selecting a community solar program, you buy your supply from a different company, but your delivery is still managed by National Grid, as we own the infrastructure," he said.
Solar for All is a New York utility bill assistance program. NYSERDA operates it in cooperation with National Grid. The Expanded Solar-For-All program, approved by state regulators in January 2021, automatically provides monthly credits to income-eligible customers enrolled in National Grid's Energy Affordability Program. At the time, Rudolph Wynter, National Grid's New York president said, "The Expanded Solar-For-All program will provide solar energy credits to those most in need while providing these customers with the opportunity to access the benefits of renewable energy."
NYSERDA has an online map where people can find a community solar project that offers subscriptions. Many have waiting lists. Go to wdt.me/findsolar.
