New York power

Generates renewable electricity from sunlight, supporting New York communities and producing enough electricity for about 160 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

New York has 567 solar plants in this category, and the Cornell Snyder Road Solar Array in Lansing sits at #497 by the electricity it produced in 2024. It began operating in 2014 and is owned by Ulysses Solar, LLC, serving the NYSEG area.

It uses solar photovoltaic technology, meaning panels that turn sunlight directly into electricity with no fuel burned. Its capacity is 1.8 MW, a megawatt being the most power a plant can deliver at one moment. Last year it produced 1.6 gigawatt-hours, a measure of electricity over time, enough for about 160 homes.

Environmental impact

Produces electricity without burning fuel, which avoids roughly 610 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 630 acres of forest in a year.*

Nearby places worth exploring

Lansing sits just north of Ithaca, home to Cornell University and Ithaca College at the southern end of Cayuga Lake. Taughannock Falls and Buttermilk Falls state parks are nearby, both centered on dramatic gorges.

Local school district

Lansing 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.