New York power

Generates renewable electricity from sunlight, supporting New York communities and producing enough electricity for about 280 homes for a year.*

Air quality & health in Tompkins County

Tompkins County has a population of 103,558. Across five conditions the American Lung Association tracks — childhood asthma, adult asthma, COPD, lung cancer, and cardiovascular disease — it reports a combined 20,492 cases in the county.

The county received a grade of B for ozone pollution. No particle pollution grade is available.

Federal monitoring recorded 218 days of good air quality and 20 moderate days in the county over the most recent year, with 0 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

Harford Solar Farm is one of 567 solar plants in New York, and it ranks #384 of 567 by the electricity it produced in 2024. It sits on Daisy Hollow Road in Tompkins County and is owned by Laertes Solar LLC. Its panels are solar photovoltaic, meaning they turn sunlight directly into electricity with no fuel burned. The plant began operating in 2016.

The farm has a capacity of 2.0 MW, a megawatt being the most power it can send out at one moment, in the way a car has a top speed. Over 2024 it produced 2.8 gigawatt-hours, a gigawatt-hour being a large measure of electricity over time, and that is enough to power about 280 homes. Utility customers in the area are served by NYSEG.

Environmental impact

Produces electricity without burning fuel, which avoids roughly 1,100 metric tons of carbon dioxide a year compared with producing the same electricity from the national mix of power sources — about the same as the carbon absorbed by about 1,100 acres of forest in a year.*

Nearby places worth exploring

Harford is in Tompkins County, near Ithaca, home to Cornell University and Ithaca College at the southern end of Cayuga Lake. Visitors often head to Taughannock Falls and Buttermilk Falls state parks, both known for their dramatic gorges.

Local school district

Dryden 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.