Eco-unfriendly thieves stole more than $100,000 in solar equipment donated to power vehicles and equipment in Brooklyn Bridge Park, The Post has learned.
The pilfered equipment — which includes 24 solar panels and 30 storage-cell batteries — was gifted to the 85-acre waterfront area in 2011 by Red Hook-based green-energy company Beautiful Earth Group.
“Obviously we’re shocked by this,” said company CEO Lex Heslin. “It hurts because we put a lot of time and money into this, but it seems someone had a strong motivation to move all this stuff.”
The equipment was reported stolen Feb. 19, but park officials told cops they were last seen on Jan. 20, law enforcement sources said.
The charging station was set up at decommissioned steel shipping containers by Pier 1 near Furman Street in Brooklyn Heights. It was used to power the park’s large fleet of electric vehicles, and officials hoped to soon use it to power private vehicles and park patrons’ cell phones and laptops.
With a hotel and housing complex soon set to break ground there, park officials were planning to relocate the equipment to the other side of the park on Atlantic Avenue near Pier 6.
A portable classroom that Beautiful Earth Group also donated for public environmental lessons wasn’t stolen and will be moved to Pier 6.
Police believe the burglar used a truck and ladder to pull off the heist since the equipment taken was very heavy, sources said.
When cops investigated, they didn’t find damage usually associated with a break-in. The gate the equipment was stored behind was locked and not damaged.
Brooklyn Bridge Park spokeswoman Teresa Gonzalez said the “only effect” the crime will have “on park operations is that we will no longer be able to charge our electric vehicles from an off-the-grid” solar-charging station and will instead have to rely on “electricity that runs to our buildings.”
Heslin said Beautiful Earth Group is waiting to hear back from park officials to see if the city was insured for the donated equipment that was stolen. He hopes to eventually operate the charging station at the park again.
The company’s charging station had been entirely powered by 24 photovoltaic panels on the roof of the shipping containers, which caught the sun’s rays throughout the day and stored them as electricity in battery packs for 24/7, on-demand use.
With production of 5.6 kilowatts, the station stored enough energy to power a small home.
“This is one of the biggest thefts in a city park in a very long time, “ said Cobble Hill activist Judi Francis. “I think people were given a false sense of security because the city said this park will be safer because there’s housing inside and a large security force.”