The panels will save the shelter more than $300,000 over the next few decades. City Mission Director Stuart Harper says his organization will reinvest those savings.

"A meal costs us $1.98. That's 150,000 meals. So that's real life. That's a number of years of meals that are paid for by saving this money on electricity," Harper said.

The Mission received panels for free. Solar Liberty, a Buffalo- based company, arranged for state grants to pay for most of the cost of the project. But Solar Liberty President Adam Rizzo says similar state grants in future will likely be dramatically smaller.

"The grants definitely still exist. They have reduced the amount that's available. But in conjunction with solar panel costs and other equipment costs coming down. The grants are still viable to do business in New York State," Rizzo said.

As cars drove past the installation, Rizzo said total pollution offset by the panels would be the equivalent of taking 1.6 million miles of car traffic off the roads. © Copyright 2012, wned