Sunny Centrals Powering 32 MW PV Power Plant in New York

Photo courtesy of Brookhaven National Laboratory

The Long Island Solar Farm is a 32-megawatt solar photovoltaic power plant built through collaboration between entities including the Long Island Power Authority and the U.S. Department of Energy. The Long Island Solar Farm is located on the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory site in Upton, New York, and began delivering power to the Long Island Power Authority grid in November 2011.50 SMA central inverters and more than 160,000 ground-mounted PV panels span an area of approximately 200 acres. At the time of completion, the Long Island Solar Farm was the largest solar photovoltaic power plant in the Eastern U.S. This plant generates up to 44,000 MWh of electricity, enough solar power to fulfill the energy needs of some 4,500 Long Island Power Authority customers. The Long Island Power Authority agreed to purchase 100 percent of the electricity the Long Island Solar Farm produces for 20 years. 

Photo courtesy of Brookhaven National Laboratory

The Sunny Central 630HE

Fifty Sunny Central 630HE inverters, built into 25 medium-voltage stations provided by SMA, keep the Long Island Solar Farm running at peak performance. The Sunny Central High Efficiency series by SMA offers peak performance at low lifetime system costs. The Sunny Central HE series complies with the complex demands of utility-scale PV plants. In addition to full power at 50 °C, these inverters can deliver 110 percent rated power in continuous operation at ambient temperatures up to 25 °C. Efficiency of more than 98 percent and high-tech functionalities such as comprehensive grid management and intelligent power control are other critical advantages of these inverters.

Solar Spotlight aims to highlight SMA inverters in real-world situations. Email us with information about your SMA-powered PV projects at SocialMedia@SMA-America.com