New Jersey Plans Doubling of Solar Power

greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com
July 30, 2009

PSE&G Solar, a subsidiary of the big New Jersey utility, said on Wednesday that received the regulatory go-ahead to add 80 MWs of solar capacity in its territory by the end of 2013, effectively doubling the amount of solar energy in the state. That will maintain New Jersey's position as the nation's second-ranked state for solar photovoltaic installations, behind only California.

The installation, scaled down slightly from the original plan, will cost $515 million, and will add $1.20 to $4 a year to the average residential customer's electricity bill, a spokesman, Paul L. Rosengren, said. He did not say what the electricity would cost per kW-hour but acknowledged, "solar is above-market." The large scale of the project is intended to hold down costs, he said. The installation is a little less than one-twentieth of the amount of solar energy that New Jersey is required to have in place by 2020.

Of the 80 MWs, half will be filled by 200,000 small panels mounted atop utility poles. Each will provide 200 watts; six of those would be needed to power a hair dryer. These panels will look like the ones used to power emergency telephones by the sides of interstate highways. The 200,000 will be the world's largest installation of pole-mounted solar units, according to the manufacturer, Petra Solar, which is based in New Jersey and will add 100 employees to the 40 working there now.

The other half of the 80 MWs will be in big installations, spread between sites owned by PSE&G, sites owned by third parties, and New Jersey Urban Enterprise Zones, areas where the state is trying to encourage business activity.

Although the panels may produce 80 MWs with the sun directly overhead, their contribution to meeting peak electric demand in New Jersey will probably be smaller, because the the highest electricity demand comes after the sunniest part of the day. Also, many of the panels may be shaded by buildings or trees for part of the day. Mr. Rosengren said that the panels' value at the time of peak electricity demand could be closer to 24 MWs.