New York power

Generates renewable electricity from sunlight, supporting New York communities and producing enough electricity for about 830 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

New York has 567 solar plants in this category, and the one on Penfield Road in Penfield ranks #64 of 567 by 2024 electricity produced. It’s a solar photovoltaic plant, meaning panels that turn sunlight directly into electricity, and it has been operating since 2022. Arevon Energy, Inc. owns it, and it feeds the RG&E system.

The plant has a capacity of 5.0 MW, which is the most electricity it can produce at any one moment, and in 2024 it generated 8.3 gigawatt-hours, a unit of energy that here equals the yearly use of about 830 homes. Because it runs on sunlight alone, it produces electricity without burning fuel.

Environmental impact

Produces electricity without burning fuel, which avoids roughly 3,200 metric tons of carbon dioxide a year compared with producing the same electricity from the national mix of power sources — about the same as not using about 7,900 barrels of oil.*

Nearby places worth exploring

Penfield sits just east of Rochester, home to the University of Rochester and RIT, along with Highland Park and the Lake Ontario shoreline. To the south, Erie Canal villages such as Pittsford and Fairport line the canal path, a familiar stretch for walkers and cyclists.

Local school district

Penfield 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.