The Brookhaven National Laboratory, the Long Island-based lab that qualifies as one of ten national laboratories that is overseen and primarily funded by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy, has announced it intends to construct a 200-acre solar energy farm and generator in the island's Pine Barrens.
According to NBC New York, the proposal to build the solar farm was brought forward by BP Solar. Upon its completion, the solar farm would be the largest of its kind in the Northeast region and be capable of generating 32 megawatts of electricity, or enough to power 4,500 homes.
"We're building a power plant that's run by nature and does not put harmful pollutants into the air that we breathe," Gordian Raacke, of Renewable Energy Long Island told New York Newsday, according to NBC New York. "Someday we'll look back on this like we did the first unmanned satellites. This is the beginning of our clean-energy future, and it's happening right here on Long Island."
Kevin Law, the CEO of the Long Island Power Authority, approved of the proposal, adding that such a project could "pave the way for making Long Island the solar capital of the region," the Long Island Press reported.
