Developer proposes solar facility over Bradley Airport employee parking lot
WINDSOR LOCKS — A solar developer has proposed a new “carport” facility on top of an existing parking lot at Bradley International Airport.
West Hartford-based solar developer Verogy, through its subsidiary Windsor Locks Solar One LLC, has filed a petition with the Connecticut Siting Council seeking a declaratory ruling to allow construction of a 3-megawatt solar photovoltaic electric generating facility at Bradley International Airport. Plans filed with the Siting Council on Friday show 8,064 solar panels to be installed on canopy structures over Parking Lot 5C, a 0.32-acre employee parking lot owned by the Connecticut Airport Authority that is accessed from Light Lane and borders Ella Grasso Turnpike/Route 75.
The petition, filed on Friday, comes not long after Bradley finished a $250 million overhaul of the airport that began three years ago.
Verogy representatives said in a narrative included with the petition that, if approved, the project would begin construction in spring 2027 and take approximately six months to complete, with construction activities occurring between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Sunday. Construction would be phased, allowing employees to use the parking lot throughout the process.
The Siting Council will accept comments on the plan from state agencies, municipal governments, and the general public until May 17. The council’s current deadline to approve a final decision is Oct. 14.
A fact sheet for the project from Verogy’s website states that the “zero pollution” solar facility would generate some 4.6 million kilowatt-hours per year, enough to power 461 homes annually, in addition to offsetting the equivalent of 3,099 metric tons of carbon dioxide every year.
The narrative states that the project was selected for a tariff agreement as part of the state’s Shared Clean Energy Facility program, and completion of the facility would result in credits for participating customers including low- and moderate-income households, municipal governments and small businesses.
Verogy said other benefits of the project include increasing Connecticut’s solar capacity without disrupting prime farmland, reducing costs for customers across the state by reducing energy demand during peak usage, providing covered parking, and increasing municipal tax revenue with no burden on services.
Verogy said in its narrative that the planned facility’s solar panels and inverters have an anticipated service life of 35 years, after which it would be decomissioned.