DAYTON, Ohio — The City of Dayton said it's going to construct a five-megawatt solar installation on an existing brownfield to help power a water treatment plant.

The solar installation will provide more than one-third of electrical power to the City of Dayton Miami Water Treatment Plant, the city said. 

The installation will feature 25 acres of a solar array on a site that used to be home to a Sherwin-Williams warehouse, which was destroyed by a fire in 1987. The city said the goal is not only to help with financial savings using solar power but also to help revitalized underutilized land for clean energy generation. 

After a four-year evaluation and planning process, which involved a feasibility study to make sure the solar power would generate enough electricity, the city had put out a bid request in September 2023 for contractors. Fast forward to March 5 of this year, and the Dayton City Commission approved of a solar power purchase agreement with IGS Energy, along with Kokosing to help with construction.

“The project aligns with Dayton’s climate emergency commitment to reduce carbon emissions at City facilities through renewable energy generation and will be Dayton’s first utility-scale solar array. Operational efficiency and savings are anticipated as well,” the city wrote in a release. 

Construction is expected to begin in early 2026 and is set to be completed later that year.