The site that formerly hosted a Canton, Massachusetts, landfill is set to be the new home of a solar array, with solar cells to be provided by JinkoSolar producing 5.75 megawatts of energy. Clean Technica reports that the abandoned site could serve as a shining example for other cities across the United States as a possible channel for generating new revenue from abandoned and unused industrial sites.

The Canton landfill stretches across 15 acres, and the solar site is to be constructed by Gemma Renewable Power, expected to generate $16.3 million in revenue for the city once complete. JinkoSolar will be using a special “non-invasive” ground-mounting system for the 19,844 solar panels to be installed, specifically chosen so as not to weaken the landfill cap already in place.

The Obama administration initiated a program in 2010 called Re-Powering America’s Land, designed to encourage “renewable energy development on current and formerly contaminated land and mine sites when it is aligned with the community’s vision for the site,” according to the EPA website.

Abandoned industrial sites, called brownfields, and other Superfund sites are only one target in the move toward U.S. sustainability. In addition, Re-Powering America’s Land also aims to usher in revenue into depressed areas, “clean up and repurpose local eyesores and create new green jobs in local communities,” reports Clean Technica. Canton may be paving the way for the remaining U.S. EPA identified 14 million acres of brownfields and Superfund sites that are scattered across the country.