Solar  -  February 15, 2022

Queens High School Installs Solar Power

The completion of a rooftop solar installation at Thomas A. Edison Career and Technical Education High School in Jamaica Hills, Queens means New York City will generate 16 MW of solar power on city properties annually. 

The new installation at Edison High School will generate 579 kW of energy, enough to offset 65% of the school’s annual energy use. 

The NYC Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) and the NYC Department of Education (DOE)  announced that  New York City achieved a key milestone in generating solar power on City properties. The installation at Edison High School is one of 60 solar installations located at New York City public schools. Collectively, the City generates 75% of its solar power from installations on public school facilities. Solar installations on City properties will help the City achieve its goal of reducing emissions from city government operations 40% by 2025 and 50% by 2030.

“Solar installations on our public schools help the City reduce emissions while providing valuable learning opportunities for students,” said NYC Department of Citywide Administrative Services Commissioner Dawn M. Pinnock in a statement. “New York City is leading the way by generating clean energy on City properties and is on target to reduce emissions from government operations 50% by 2030.”

In 2016, DCAS assessed all City-owned buildings larger than 10,000 gross square feet for solar readiness and identified nearly 55 MW of rooftop solar potential. The City has installed over 16 MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) panels across 110 projects, fulfilling 16% of the City's goal of 100 MW by the end of 2025. Sixty of the 110 completed solar projects have been on DOE schools (12.2 MW installed), representing over 75% of the total Citywide installed capacity. Installed solar capacity on City-owned buildings has increased by 15 MW since 2014, when less than one MW was installed.