New York power

Generates renewable electricity from sunlight, supporting New York communities and producing enough electricity for about 310 homes for a year.*

Air quality & health in Erie County

Erie County has a population of 946,147. Across five conditions the American Lung Association tracks — childhood asthma, adult asthma, COPD, lung cancer, and cardiovascular disease — it reports a combined 196,802 cases in the county.

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

Federal monitoring recorded 168 days of good air quality and 97 moderate days in the county over the most recent year, with 9 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

Big Tree Community Solar Farm in Wales, Erie County, is one of 567 solar plants in New York, ranking #349 by the electricity it produced in 2024. It began operating in 2021 and uses solar photovoltaic technology, meaning panels that turn sunlight directly into electricity with no fuel burned.

The farm has a capacity of 2.0 MW, which is the most power it can deliver at one moment. Over the year it generated 3.1 gigawatt-hours, a gigawatt-hour being a way of counting a large amount of electricity, enough to power about 310 homes. Generate Capital owns the plant, and it connects to NYSEG’s local grid.

Environmental impact

Produces electricity without burning fuel, which avoids roughly 1,200 metric tons of carbon dioxide a year compared with producing the same electricity from the national mix of power sources — about the same as the carbon absorbed by about 1,300 acres of forest in a year.*

Nearby places worth exploring

Wales sits in the Erie County countryside, southeast of Buffalo. Buffalo offers the Canalside waterfront on Lake Erie, the Buffalo Zoo, and the University at Buffalo. Niagara Falls is a short drive north.

Local school district

Iroquois 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.