Stonington — A Middletown firm wants to create a solar energy farm with 16,680 panels on farmland off Taugwonk Spur Road.

Greenskies Renewable Energy, which had proposed installing hundreds of solar panels at the borough and Pawcatuck sewer treatment plants in 2017, has filed an application to construct, maintain and operate the Taugwonk Spur facility with the Connecticut Siting Council. Greenskies never went forward with the plan for the sewer treatment plants.

According to the plan submitted to the siting council, the panels would be located on 16.5 acres of an 87-acre parcel owned by Walter Robinson, which in part comprises the 151-acre Pequot Meadow Farm.

Greenskies' application states it will lease land from Robinson, who will continue to own the property and be able to continue farming other portions of it. Greenskies plans to connect the facility to the Eversource distribution system. If approved, Greenskies plans to begin work this year with the facility going online in the fall of 2020.

The land is zoned light industrial and greenbelt residential, both requiring a minimum lot size of 130,000 square feet. Taugwonk Spur is home to a small industrial park.

The land also borders the southbound lanes of Interstate 95 as well as the Thomas Miner Nature Preserve and Wildlife Sanctuary.

The application states Greenskies is an affiliate of Clean Focus Corp., which has headquarters in Sunnyvale, Calif. The firm states it has constructed, operates and maintains clean renewable energy sites across the United States, including 375 solar projects in 19 states. Their customers include Target, Walmart and Amazon.

The application states that commercial and residential development of the property would permanently impact the land, while their plan would have minimal environmental impact and allow farming to continue. The company also would be required to return the land to agricultural use when the solar panels are decommissioned.

Plans call for clearing 3 to 4 acres to minimize loss of sunlight to shade from trees.

The entrance to the site would be off Taugwonk Spur, which is located off Taugwonk Road just north of the Exit 91 ramps for I-95.

Detailed information about the applications is available at bit.ly/GSSNsolar.