Solar Panels In Pearl River An Up-and-Down Surprise

PEARL RIVER, NY — A solar panel array erected on state-owned land has been removed without ever generating a kilowatt, and town officials are shaking their heads over the operation, which has been a series of surprises for four years.

"It is even more frustrating than I thought," Orangetown Town Supervisor Teresa Kenny told Patch on Tuesday.

Kenny said she had received a call from the Court Appointed Receiver in the bankruptcy of the solar company that the New York State Department of Transportation contracted with to install and operate the site in the cloverleaf at Route 304.

"Essentially, the company went bankrupt within a year or so of the solar panels being installed," she said in an email. "They were never 'hooked up' (so never generated any electricity) and, in the end, NYS had an opportunity to get them up and working with the company that bought out the old one but did not – and they are now left with the cost of removing the brackets and restoring the site."

The 1,196 panels in the solar field belonged to Monolith Solar. The plan was to have the array produce 500,000 kWh of AC power or more annually.

The DOT gave Monolith permission without telling any local officials, who were taken aback when trees started coming down in 2018 and the panels started going up in long rows.

However, Monolith, which was also to be responsible for maintenance, grid connectivity, and operation for the Orangetown site and several others, came apart instead.

Due to issues with meeting its financial and other contractual obligations, the company has been under court-ordered receivership initiated by its creditors, said DOT spokesperson Joe Morrissey, and the DOT is in the process of terminating its contract.

Most recently, town and state officials were surprised when a contractor for the receiver’s buy-out firm removed the solar panels — without notice to or authorization from NYSDOT.

"Our full intention was to reach out to the Town before any mitigation work was performed at the site, with our overarching goal to have the site restored to its previous natural state," Morrissey said. "Moving forward, we will be coordinating with local officials to discuss next steps, which includes restoring the site to its natural state."

While there was no cost to the state when the solar panel array was built, it is going to cost money to restore the site to its natural state, which was wooded.