A new 17-acre, on-campus solar array is up and running at Niagara University.

The $6.2 million, four-megawatt project, started nearly three years ago, will help make university electric consumption 100% carbon neutral.

The solar array was designed to have a minimal impact on land, and it was given attractive fencing and landscaping to make it visually appealing to students and their families.

"A campus like ours would generate easily tens of thousands of tons of CO2 per year; ours is going to be zero for that. Just let that sink in for a minute. That's huge; that's a big win for this area," said Dr. Mark Gallo, professor of biology at Niagara University.

The array was completed in partnership with Montante Solar and Pivot Energy.

"While New York's energy future can be a polarizing topic, this project does exemplify a solution that benefits the state, local community and broader society," said Dan Montante, co-founder and president of Montante Solar.

The array is expected to generate 5.6 million kilowatt hours of renewable power at peak solar capacity.