brookhavenlab:

Bring on the sunshine! April showers are behind us (we hope) and the sun is shining a little longer each day here in the northern hemisphere. That means the 200-acre Long Island Solar Farm (LISF) at Brookhaven Lab is producing increasing amounts of renewable energy for Long Islanders and data for our researchers.

The 32-megawatt solar array—containing 164,312 photovoltaic panels—provides energy to power 4,500 local homes, but we’re also using it to advance solar forecasting, study the potential impact on local wildlife, and enhance our ability to integrate renewable energy sources into the grid. 

Check out this update on LISF’s first year of operation from Pat Looney, who leads Brookhaven Lab’s Sustainable Energy Technologies Department. Where else are you gonna find box turtles, huckleberries, and 54,000 megawatt-hours of solar energy?