Home > About BNE > Press Room > 2009 Archive > May > UB North Campus to plug into solar power in big way

Updated: 05/08/09 07:46 AM

UB North Campus to plug into solar power in big way

Panels on 7 acres will provide electricity for 735 apartments housing 2,000 students

The largest ground-mounted solar energy project to date in the state will be built in sunny Western New York.

The State Power Authority and the University at Buffalo announced plans Wednesday to install 5,000 solar panels, which could generate enough solar energy to power 735 campus apartments for 2,000 UB students.

The project, on the North Campus in Amherst, will cost about $7 million and is expected to be completed by the fall of 2010.

Why Buffalo? “Why not?” asked Power Authority President Richard M. Kessel.

Despite the cold and cloudy image Buffalo has cultivated for itself, the area averages more sunshine from May through September than such other Northeastern cities as New York, Washington and Philadelphia. It even exceeds Raleigh, N. C., according to data from the National Weather Service in Cheektowaga.

“Buffalo, in a sense, is an ideal site for creating solar energy,” UB President John B. Simpson said.

Kessel also said the Power Authority— which will pay for the project under a statewide renewable energy program — was intrigued by UB’s ongoing efforts to meet energy needs through renewable sources.

The solar panels are expected to save UB $75,000 to $100,000 a year, Kessel said.

“This grant not only recognizes UB’s long record of environmental leadership, but it commits us to a greener, more sustainable future,” Simpson said.

While such a project might have large upfront costs, it provides long-term benefits for energy consumers, who no longer can continue to rely on oil and other fossil fuels, Kessel said.

The UB solar project was unveiled two weeks after Kessel was in Buffalo to announce the Power Authority’s proposal for a large wind farm off the shores of Lake Erie or Lake Ontario.

“Green is our future,” Kessel said. “We are making a real effort to make a difference in Western New York.”

The 5,000 solar panels will be installed on seven acres near Maple Road, adjacent to UB’s chilled water plant on Flint Road, which serves the 1,200- acre campus.

At full capacity, the panels will generate 1.1 megawatts, or 1.1 million watts, of electricity, enough to power UB’s Flint, Hadley, South Lake and Creekside Village apartments.

“This will be the largest single installation, to date, in New York State,” said Guy Sliker, program manager with the Power Authority’s research, technology and development division. “There have been some larger ones that have been announced and may be coming in the future.”

This will be the second solar project on UB’s North Campus. In 2006, the university installed a set of panels on the roof of Norton Hall.

jrey@buffnews.com