HamilSun Community Solar

HamilSun Community Solar’s 2.65 MW solar PV facility was granted permission to operate in June of 2025. Upon achieving this milestone, HamilSun began fulfilling its intended mission of providing utility bill credits to nearly one hundred low and moderate income households across the region. It was the culmination of years of project development involving agencies and programs at the local, state, and federal levels.

The project is located in Peru, New York, a rural farming community in the northeast corner of Upstate New York, just south of Plattsburgh. The area is served by the local distribution utility New York State Electric and Gas (NYSEG). Early project development identified challenges associated with the increased cost of being located in a designated Agricultural District, as well as relatively low compensation rates for energy injected into the grid at this location. These challenges were met with creativity and resourcefulness by the development team: Early iterations of the project design were modified to reduce cost and increase energy yield. The original fixed-tilt design was changed to a single-axis tracking system, increasing yield by approximately 20% on almost the same footprint. Numerous incentives and funding sources were identified, pursued, and successfully obtained, including a 20% federal tax credit, a UDSA REAP grant, and a NYSERDA Solar PV grant. An additional NYSERDA program designed to increase participation of LMI households in accessing the benefits of renewable energy also provided financial support to the project on a performance basis. This program aligned seamlessly with stakeholder’s priorities of directing benefits to local LMI families. In addition to local LMI families, the project also provides cost savings on electricity to the local municipality, the Town of Peru.

In addition to providing benefits to the subscribers, RER Energy Group’s unique approach to the distributed energy marketplace also seeks to make ownership positions available to landowners and other interested local stakeholders. This provides one more opportunity to keep the benefits within the community. With all of these attributes focused locally, HamilSun Community Solar is truly a “community-centric” solar project.