New York power

Generates renewable electricity from sunlight, supporting New York communities and producing enough electricity for about 930 homes for a year.*

Air quality & health in Monroe County

Monroe County has a population of 748,482. Across five conditions the American Lung Association tracks — childhood asthma, adult asthma, COPD, lung cancer, and cardiovascular disease — it reports a combined 154,303 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 D.

Federal monitoring recorded 195 days of good air quality and 72 moderate days in the county over the most recent year, with 7 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, Hamlin Solar 1 ranks #29 by the electricity it produced in 2024. It sits on Roosevelt Highway in Hamlin, in Monroe County, and began operating in 2020. Nautilus Solar Solutions owns it, and the power flows onto the National Grid system.

The plant uses solar photovoltaic technology, which means panels that turn sunlight directly into electricity with no moving parts. It has a capacity of 5.0 MW, or megawatts, a measure of the most power it can deliver at one moment. Over 2024 it produced 9.3 gigawatt-hours, a gigawatt-hour being a very large amount of electricity, enough to power about 930 homes for a year. It generates without burning anything.

Environmental impact

Produces electricity without burning fuel, which avoids roughly 3,600 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 1,400 tons of waste out of a landfill.*

Nearby places worth exploring

Hamlin is a lakeside community in Monroe County, not far from the Lake Ontario shoreline. To the south, Rochester is home to the University of Rochester and RIT, along with Highland Park. Erie Canal villages such as Pittsford and Fairport line the canal path and make for a pleasant stroll.

Local school district

Brockport 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.