Suffolk has 10 new solar-panel carports

A renewable energy company has finished building 10 carports with solar-power panels in the south parking lot of Suffolk's H. Lee Dennison county office building in Hauppauge, and work is beginning on another 14 more in the building's north lot.

As part of a 20-year, $123-million contract with LIPA, San Diego-based enXco Inc. is building carports with solar panels on the roofs at seven county-owned parking lots. The company will supply LIPA with the power generated by the 60,000 solar panels.

Work on the first 10 began in September, and the additional 14 will be finished sometime next year.

Company spokeswoman Katherine Heaviside said it's believed to be the largest effort in the country to capture solar power in parking lots.

LIPA, though, is paying twice as much as it would now pay for buying the same 17 megawatts of power from conventional fuel plants, Michael Deering, LIPA's vice president of environmental affairs, said Thursday.

The project, however, will allow the utility to reduce its dependence on oil, he said. Because of the rising cost of oil, the amount being spent on solar power may be considered "cost-efficient" by the end of the contract, he said.

The carport project is also creating 175 clean construction jobs.

Heaviside said the solar panels at all the carports are expected to generate enough energy to power 1,800 homes, and the savings in carbon emissions would be the equivalent of taking 2,734 cars off the road.

County Executive Steve Levy said the company will also pay the county $8.5 million over the next 20 years to lease the space in the county lots.

He acknowledged the additional cost for LIPA, but said, "As the [solar] technology advances, it's going to become more cost-effective, and that only happens if you develop the market for it."