BP solar farm at Brookhaven Lab near done

A massive solar farm under construction at Brookhaven National Laboratory is about 70 percent complete, and officials say the project could send electricity to the grid by October.

The 32-megawatt Long Island Solar Farm is also a unique research venture -- a collaboration with private industry that will give federal scientists access to the largest system of its kind in the Northeast.

"This is a very big opportunity," said Pat Looney, chairman of the Upton lab's department of sustainable energy technologies. "We told anyone who came that we would need to develop a research component to warrant giving up that land."

Nearly 100,000 photovoltaic panels have been installed on 195 acres at the lab's southeast corner, near a Long Island Power Authority substation.

BP Solar, which is building the farm, gets access to the federal land for free. In exchange, Brookhaven researchers can tap into real-time data from the solar plant, thanks to instruments built into the design. They'll also get their own mini-array of solar panels for use in experiments.

Other federal labs are looking at the Brookhaven example as a model for future solar and wind energy projects, Looney said.

Nationally, the biggest operational system using the same type of photovoltaic technology is the 48-megawatt Copper Mountain project in Nevada, the Solar Electric Power Association said. A 25-megawatt plant in DeSoto County, Fla., is the largest on the East Coast.

As the Long Island facility nears completion, Brookhaven scientists are mapping out a detailed research agenda to measure its performance and environmental footprint. Their plans include examining how clouds affect power production and developing models to forecast solar output.

To see how animals use the altered land below the panels, scientists will even strap transmitters on box turtles to track whether they pass through 4-by-12-inch openings that will be placed every 75 feet at the base of security fencing.

"We don't know how long it would take the wildlife to figure out that it's there," said Tim Green, the lab's cultural and natural resource manager.

On a recent visit to the site, sunlight glinted off long rows of panels set on racks tilted at a 27-degree angle above the dusty ground. Nearby, workers drove piles into the ground to support more racks. A forklift laden with panels rolled past, crunching over mulch made from the oaks and pines that once stood there.

About 137 acres were cleared over the winter to make way for the project -- a decision some environmental advocates questioned. Others said the research and environmental benefits far outweigh the short-term cost.

Planners say the installation will generate enough electricity to power 4,500 homes and prevent 30,950 metric tons of carbon dioxide a year from being produced. That's what a conventional power plant would generate in producing the same amount of electricity.

LIPA will buy about $298 million in energy from the farm over its 20-year span. The plant would be its largest single source of solar power.

No government funding went into the project, and future revenue will come entirely from electricity sales to LIPA, BP Solar spokesman Pete Resler said.

For scientists -- and utilities weighing solar investments -- the project offers an unprecedented chance to see how industrial-scale operations perform in the Northeast.

Researchers know a fair amount about how solar power plants are likely to function in dry, sunny areas like the Southwest, where most large-scale projects are planned. But little data are available on how typical Northeast weather patterns may affect energy production.

Scientists will also examine how solar generation can improve the overall power grid's reliability. Electricity produced at solar plants along distribution lines could help ease congestion that builds up in parts of the grid during peak summer months.

"The more distributed generation you have that works well in the summertime, the better it can help with that air-conditioning load," Looney said.