New York power

Generates renewable electricity from sunlight, supporting New York communities and producing enough electricity for about 330 homes for a year.*

Air quality & health in Dutchess County

Dutchess County has a population of 297,150. Across five conditions the American Lung Association tracks — childhood asthma, adult asthma, COPD, lung cancer, and cardiovascular disease — it reports a combined 62,789 cases in the county.

Federal monitoring recorded 252 days of good air quality and 17 moderate days in the county over the most recent year, with 3 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 Sunlight Beacon, in Beacon, ranks #316 of 567 by 2024 electricity produced. It’s a solar photovoltaic plant, meaning panels that turn sunlight directly into electricity. BQ Energy LLC owns it, and it has been running since 2018.

Its capacity is 2.0 MW, a megawatt being a measure of the most power it can deliver at once. Over 2024 it produced 3.3 gigawatt-hours, a gigawatt-hour being a large block of energy, enough to power about 330 homes. Solar panels make power only while the sun shines, which is why the plant ran at a capacity factor of 19 percent, the share of its maximum output it actually delivered over the year.

Environmental impact

Produces electricity without burning fuel, which avoids roughly 1,300 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 3,100 barrels of oil.*

Nearby places worth exploring

Beacon sits along the Hudson River and is home to the Dia Beacon art museum. A short drive away, Poughkeepsie has Vassar College and Marist College, along with the Walkway Over the Hudson, a pedestrian bridge across the river.

Local school district

Beacon City 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.