New York power

Generates renewable electricity from sunlight, supporting New York communities and producing enough electricity for about 1,400 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

Out of 567 solar plants in New York, SL Babylon in West Babylon, Suffolk County, ranks #22 by the electricity it produced in 2024. It has run since 2017 and uses solar photovoltaic technology, meaning panels that turn sunlight directly into electricity with no fuel burned.

Its capacity, the most power it can send out at any one moment, is 9.0 MW, and it produced 13.6 gigawatt-hours in 2024, a gigawatt-hour being a very large unit of electricity, roughly enough to power about 1,400 homes. The output is carbon-free, and the plant’s operator is SL Babylon, LLC.

Environmental impact

Produces electricity without burning fuel, which avoids roughly 5,200 metric tons of carbon dioxide a year compared with producing the same electricity from the national mix of power sources — about the same as keeping about 2,000 tons of waste out of a landfill.*

Nearby places worth exploring

Suffolk County stretches out to Long Island’s East End, home to the Hamptons, Montauk Point, and the North Fork wine country. Fire Island’s beaches and Stony Brook University are also in the county.

Local school district

West Babylon Union Free 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.