Solar energy now powers Hither Hills State Park

A newly installed solar array now provides carbon-free, sustainable power at Hither Hills State Park in Montauk.

The $750,000 solar energy project is the 50th to be completed by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation since 2012, which provides 15 percent of the agency’s total electrical needs.

The Montauk project brings State Parks one step closer to its goal of being powered by clean renewable energy by 2030.

Using daylight harvesting to offset electrical usage, the Hither Hills installation brings State Parks’ total solar production to 6.2 MW installed statewide, including 15 ground-mount, 30 roof-mount, and five pole-mount systems.

The new 262-kilowatt solar array system is projected to generate 360,000 kWh per year at Hither Hills, covering the park’s entire electricity usage and saving around $45,000 annually on electricity bills.

“State Parks is proud to continue our efforts to reduce our carbon footprint and lead by example for other state agencies,” State Parks Commissioner Erik Kulleseid said in an agency statement. “We intend to keep scaling up our solar capacity and produce enough power to be running fully on renewables by 2030. Hither Hills is one more emblematic project that allows us to move the needle.”