Solar One

Solar One Environmental Education Center

Overview and Benefits

  • Currently under construction
  • Construction and outfitting to be completed in early 2025 with programming for the public to commence in spring 2025
  • Located along the waterfront, will be a model of resiliency for hurricanes, storm surges, and other potential emergency conditions.
  • Will feature advanced sustainable building engineering and design components.
    • Energy generation: Solar photovoltaic array alongside the FDR Drive, visible to tens of thousands of New Yorkers every day. It will generate off the grid solar electricity allowing the building to serve as a community disaster relief center in the event of future storms. Energy storage will all enable the building to be fully resilient.
    • Resiliency features: Due to its location in a V-Zone, the building will be elevated 10 feet, with elevated mechanicals, steel structure and foundation that are hurricane, tornado, and seismic resistant.

Economic Development and Related Programming

  • The Center will encourage NYers to make energy efficiency and renewables investments in their buildings and businesses.
  • The Center will also be an education destination for the thousands of NYC public school children who participate in Solar One’s Green Design Lab programs each year. It will provide indoor and outdoor experiences for learning about sustainability, climate change, and resiliency as they engage in hands-on activities and demonstrations in our state-of-the art classrooms.
  • The beautiful setting of Stuyvesant Cove Park, the Center’s backyard, will support a myriad of learning, recreation, and arts opportunities.

The Solar One Environmental Education Center will enable Solar One to: 

  • Provide student classrooms to be used in tandem with field trips and service learning opportunities in the Park, as an extension of our K-12 education program. 
  • Deliver professional development training to teachers on how to incorporate our  climate change curriculum in their STEM classes.
  • Encourage synchronicity between workshops that focus on both outdoor and  indoor learning activities, including, for example, soil testing and water quality  monitoring, composting and permaculture, and oyster and mussel gardening.  
  • Serve as a site for job fairs for workforce trainees who have completed our hard  skills program. 
  • Provide flexibility and new options for expanded workforce classroom and career  development experiences. 
  • Offer public space for information sessions, webinars, and community outreach  events, significantly expanding the number of individuals our Green Workforce and  Here Comes Solar teams connect with annually. 
  • Present communal programs that highlight legislation, incentives and innovations  in renewable energy, food, water management, transportation. 
  • Create a venue for music, arts, and family-focused programming. 
  • Offer event rental space for both nonprofit and for-profit companies on days when Solar One-produced events and classes have not been scheduled. Amenities will  include presentation capabilities, a sound system, and a dedicated area for  caterers. 
  • Enable a membership program for individuals and families. 
  • Offer year-round onsite programs in conjunction with the Park for the first time.   

With beautiful East River views, the S1EEC will provide a unique venue that is  sustainable, flexible, affordable and highly functional for everything from panel discussions  and intimate gatherings to full band performances and celebrations.

To learn more about future programming, event rentals and funding opportunities, please contact development@solar1.org.

Project Partners