Northern Sun Energy building 23-MW New York community solar portfolio

Two new community solar projects are under construction in upstate New York, in Waterford and Boonville. Together they'll produce 23 megawatts of power. The developer, Seaboard Solar, is working with builder Northern Sun Energy, and the projects have grant support from NYSERDA, the state's energy research agency.

Community solar lets homeowners buy into a shared solar array instead of putting panels on their own roof, usually in exchange for credits on their electric bill. If you live near Waterford or Boonville, this project could eventually offer that kind of subscription option, though nothing in this announcement covers signing up or savings.

The construction itself involved some engineering challenges worth knowing about if you're curious how these projects get built: the Waterford site can only be reached by a bridge with a 20-ton weight limit, so crews had to plan carefully around how heavy equipment gets in. Boonville has some of the highest snow load requirements in the country, meaning the solar racking has to be built to hold up under heavy snow without breaking or losing performance. The builders worked with a racking company, GameChange Energy, to design a system that meets those updated snow codes while keeping the project on schedule. Both sites are being built with local labor.