New York power

Generates renewable electricity from sunlight, supporting New York communities and producing enough electricity for about 4,300 homes for a year.*

Air quality & health in Suffolk County

Suffolk County has a population of 1,523,170. Across five conditions the American Lung Association tracks — childhood asthma, adult asthma, COPD, lung cancer, and cardiovascular disease — it reports a combined 316,289 cases in the county.

The county received a grade of F for ozone pollution. For particle pollution — the fine soot and dust that can be breathed deep into the lungs — it received a grade of A.

Federal monitoring recorded 235 days of good air quality and 76 moderate days in the county over the most recent year, with 3 days rated unhealthy for sensitive groups.

Long-term exposure to air pollution has been linked to certain health conditions, particularly for children and older adults. Where electricity comes from affects how much combustion pollution is produced on the grid.

These figures describe the county as a whole and are not specific to this facility. Sources: American Lung Association – State of the Air (New York); U.S. EPA Air Quality Index.

The story behind this New York renewable energy facility

Of the 567 solar plants in New York in this category, Shoreham Solar Commons ranks #5 by the electricity it produced in 2024. It sits on Cooper Street in Shoreham, in Suffolk County, and has been running since 2018.

The plant uses solar photovoltaic technology, which means panels that turn sunlight directly into electricity with no fuel burned. It can produce up to 24.9 MW at once, and a megawatt is a measure of how much power a plant can deliver at a given moment. Over 2024 it generated 43.0 gigawatt-hours, a unit for large amounts of electricity over time, which is about 4,300 homes’ worth of yearly use.

Environmental impact

Produces electricity without burning fuel, which avoids roughly 17,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide a year compared with producing the same electricity from the national mix of power sources — about the same as not burning about 17,000,000 pounds of coal.*

Nearby places worth exploring

Shoreham sits on Long Island’s North Shore, within reach of the North Fork wine country and Long Island’s East End. Elsewhere in Suffolk County, you’ll find Fire Island’s beaches and Stony Brook University.

Local school district

Shoreham-Wading River Central School District

Common questions

* Homes-powered and emissions comparisons are annual estimates based on national averages from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. “Homes powered” describes a quantity of electricity, not direct service to specific households. How we calculate this.