Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy Brings Power of the Sun to Police Headquarters

PHOTO BY MIRANDA GATEWOOD

Flanked by environmentalists atop the Suffolk Police Headquarters in Yaphank, Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy flipped the switch activating the largest municipal solar system in the region.

The police headquarters has been outfitted with a total of 304 solar panels, 80 of which are tilted along the outside of the roof to catch the most sunlight, and another 160 that sit flat. There is also another group of 64 solar panels known as flexible panels that are mounted on the penthouses atop the roof. Each group of 80 panels feeds a 13-kilowatt rated inverter which converts the raw DC electrical power to AC, the type of electrical energy used to power the police headquarters.

Levy took his solar campaign even further by also signing an Executive Order requiring all future county government buildings constructed over 10,000 square feet to be fitted with solar panels. The Executive Order mandates that these new solar panels must generate up to 5 percent of the anticipated peak electrical load of the newly constructed building. The action is part of Levy’s plan to make Suffolk County the state’s leader in moving toward energy independence, a promise in his 2009 State of the County address.

Gordian Raacke, executive director, Renewable Energy Long Island; Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy; Carrie Meek Gallagher, Commissioner of Environment and Energy, Suffolk County Dept of Environment and Energy; Mike Monaghan, Suffolk Department of Public Works and William Houck, Suffolk Department of Public Works

On a bright day with the sun directly overhead, 10 square feet of rooftop sees about 1,000 watts of solar power. Fully captured, this is enough heat to bring 10 quarts of water to a boil in an hour. Solar panels capture about 13 percent of this energy, meaning the solar panels can collect about 13 watts per square foot. Depending on the time of the year and sun conditions, the solar system can provide power for roughly 10 to 20 percent of the building, reducing annual energy use for the facility by 2 percent and cutting energy costs by over $7,000 per year. This initiative will also remove 22.5 tons of carbon from the atmosphere each year.

Prior to installing the solar panels on the Suffolk Police Headquarters – which began in August 2007 – the county applied for and received a $260,000 grant for the project from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) which will cover roughly half the cost of installation. Suffolk County will be responsible for the other half.

Part of the purpose of the solar initiative is to act as a demonstration project comparing several factors that will provide invaluable information when outfitting future buildings in Suffolk with solar panels. Data collected will include: performance of flexible solar panels versus rigid glass panels in a side-by-side comparison; performance of flat panels versus those tilted for annual optimum energy production, in a side-by-side comparison; actual energy yield under real life weather conditions compared to theoretical calculations and published solar energy data and demonstration of actual seasonal and daily variations versus calculated variations.
The project also included the ground level installation of six rigid solar panels and seven flexible panels at the Suffolk County Farm Education Center. This smaller solar system will also be part of the demonstration project as the installation area is well lit, but is bordered by tall trees. This will allow for a comparison of actual energy lost due to shade versus predicted results.

Suffolk County has undertaken numerous solar/clean energy projects in the past under Levy’s administration. In July, he released a comprehensive inventory of potential county-owned sites that could be leased to host solar photovoltaic systems. The list includes more than 300 acres of land primarily acquired through tax default, and 1.2 million square feet of rooftop space.

Suffolk County was the first to provide local sales tax exemptions for the purchase and installation of solar equipment. Numerous county buildings, including the LEED-certified Silver Standard Fourth Precinct building in Smithtown, have been or are in the process of being installed with solar panels. Levy was also one of the first administrators in the state to adopt the Sierra Club’s Cool Counties protocols to reduce carbon particulates into the atmosphere.