New York power

Generates renewable electricity from sunlight, supporting New York communities and producing enough electricity for about 840 homes for a year.*

Air quality & health in Saratoga County

Saratoga County has a population of 238,711. Across five conditions the American Lung Association tracks — childhood asthma, adult asthma, COPD, lung cancer, and cardiovascular disease — it reports a combined 51,023 cases in the county.

The county received a grade of B for ozone pollution. No particle pollution grade is available.

Federal monitoring recorded 233 days of good air quality and 10 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

Of the 567 solar plants in New York, Sugar Hill Solar 1 in Clifton Park ranks #57 by the electricity it produced in 2024. It’s a solar photovoltaic plant, meaning panels that turn sunlight directly into electricity. It began operating in 2020 and has a capacity of 5.0 MW, a measure of the most power it can deliver at one moment.

Over 2024 it generated 8.4 gigawatt-hours, a unit for large amounts of electricity, which is about 840 homes’ worth of yearly use. Its output ran at a capacity factor of 19 percent, which compares what it produced to what it could make if it ran at full power all year. Sunshine is its only fuel, so it produces no emissions while generating.

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 the carbon absorbed by about 3,300 acres of forest in a year.*

Nearby places worth exploring

Clifton Park sits in Saratoga County, a short drive from Saratoga Springs, home to the Saratoga Race Course, Saratoga Performing Arts Center, and Saratoga Spa State Park. Saratoga Lake lies just outside the city, a familiar spot for boating and lakeside afternoons.

Local school district

Shenendehowa 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.