UPROSE celebrates cooperative solar project going online

A large array of rooftop solar panels on an industrial building in Sunset Park is about to go online, delivering discounted electricity to local homes and businesses as part of an innovative initiative spearheaded by local environmental justice nonprofit UPROSE.

“Today, we are celebrating this rooftop with solar energy! The first one right here in Sunset Park,” Congresswoman Nydia M. Velázquez said in a speech at the May 2 event celebrating the completion of the project after many years in the making.

The congresswoman pointed out that this is the first cooperative solar panel project of its kind.

The solar panels, which will generate 725 kilowatts on a sunny day, are on Building B of the Brooklyn Army Terminal and will supply electricity to 200 participating homes and businesses with a projected savings of 20 percent on their utility bills. The Sunset Park Solar project is expected to generate $1.05 million over its 25-year project lifetime. This fund will be administered by UPROSE, and allocations from the fund will be determined and approved by the subscribers of the project, according to a spokesperson representing UPROSE.

The Brooklyn Army Terminal is managed by NYCEDC and located in an industrial complex near 58th Street and Second Avenue.

“This is where climate justice lives. It lives in community. It doesn’t live in universities. It doesn’t live in big organizations that are behind the desk trying to figure out solutions for us. It lives in the neighborhood,” UPROSE Executive Director Elizabeth Yeampierre said at the festive event, which included live music.

Yeampierre emphasized that this project is replicable and sets an example of what is possible.

“We have a communal vision that is operational,” she said.

“A lot of solar projects give energy savings, and the people who own it live off in those glass towers up there. UPROSE owns this system. So the dividends of owning this system, in addition to the energy savings, are flowing back to UPROSE,” said Ian Fischer of Working Power, the solar company that partnered with UPROSE.

“It sounds like the [mayor’s] administration is really excited to make more roofs available, make more clean energy projects available because, really, we’ve demonstrated that you can do this with community co-ownership,” Fischer said in an interview with the Sunset Post.

It took eight years for UPROSE to bring this project from an idea to fruition.

“Setting up community-owned solar is hard. There are real logistical challenges, administrative, financial challenges from site agreements to financing structure, to regulatory approvals to cooperative governance,” Velázquez said.

The congresswoman also joked that UPROSE Executive Director Yeampierre “could be a pain in the neck.” But this tireless persistence was what was needed to bring this project to completion.

Addressing Yeampierre directly, the congresswoman stated, “Elizabeth, your leadership has put Sunset Park at the forefront of the national conversation on what frontline-led community climate solutions look like.”

Council Member Alexa Avilés emphasized the immediate benefit for the families who are participating in the utility plan and thanked UPROSE for the project.

Avilés described the project as important “for every family member who is grateful that they can actually pay their bill because of this discount.” She also spoke about how the solar panels help make the air we all breathe less polluted.

Consumers save money on their utility bills by receiving solar energy credits as part of the program.

As of early May, 99 residential electric utility users and 19 commercial users had signed on to the program, bringing the total to 118 out of the 200 planned participants. The solar panels are expected to go online in mid-May.

When someone from UPROSE walked into Savō, a small eatery at 406 36th St., owner Alex Zumba didn’t believe the offer was real.

“At the time, I thought it was way too good to be true,” Zumba said.

Opened in December 2025, Savō doesn’t have a gas stove.

“For a kitchen that is 100% electric, saving 20% on the electric bill is a massive one for us,” Zumba said.

He said the savings help keep costs down so the business can make good, healthy food that customers can afford.

“Electric is a huge, huge, huge part of our cost here,” he said.