New Jersey State Agency to Unveil Ambitious Solar Project (20 MW)

[jpak]

http://www.renewableenergyaccess.com/rea/news/story?id=44545

Lyndhurst, New Jersey In yet another sign of New Jersey's strong tilt toward the use and promotion of renewable energy, a prominent state agency intends to reveal plans next week for what could become the largest solar photovoltaic (PV) project on the Eastern seaboard and possibly the entire U.S.

"When people think about New Jersey, especially this area, they think of landfills and stadiums, so this may come off as a little unexpected for a state agency to come out with a plan like this. But this is part of New Jersey turning itself around and making itself a major player in the environmental and renewable energy field." -- Nancy Benecki, spokeswoman for the Commission

The Board of the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission (NJMC) is expecting the final results of an NJMC staff report on April 10 that will address the viability of a proposal to establish a solar energy system in the Meadowlands.

The two-tiered project would rely partly on the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities' generous solar PV rebates to see the installation of an initial 5 megawatts (MW) of solar on Commission facilities and a proposed second expansion to 20 MW by the year 2020.

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[NNadir]

1. I have noticed the huge tilt towards solar power here.

I now know of 3 houses in my town that have solar roofs.

Last year there was zero.

Also there was a full page article in the local paper, the Trenton Times, about a guy in Hamilton, NJ who put a solar system on his roof. He had a pony tail and said he did it because he wanted to "stay close to his hippy roots." He said the system, everything included, cost him about $50,000, but he does expect low electricity bills for the rest of his life. He's also getting some rebates. He refinanced to raise the money.

Some people may think that the fact that some installations merits a breathless newspaper article or a big link on a website as an indication that solar energy is not really a general solution for the climate crisis, but as we're all in extreme danger and are likely to suffer greatly, so why worry?

Be happy.

This twenty mega"watt" system being installed by the bankrupt State of New Jersey (by 2020, just 5 Mega"watts" now) is great news for all mankind. Another "world's largest" or "east coast's largest" or some kind of "largest."

If we assume that it has 25% operating load capacity - which is pretty good for most solar installations - "by 2020" when it is all supposed to be installed, it will produce 0.00016 exajoules of energy each year. Given the number of seconds in the year, this is the equivalent of 6,700 horsepower. It will provide the same amount of energy as 21 Hummer H2's running flat out 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

http://www.motortrend.com/features/performance/112_0308_2003_lingenfelter_hummer_h2/

That is impressive. Hummers are real big. They're almost "world's largest."

[jpak]

2. There is also a large landfill gas project at the Meadowlands

http://www.meadowlands.state.nj.us/natural_resources/solid_waste/methane_recovery.cfm

and 35 operating (~63 MW) or under development in NJ...

www.epa.gov/lmop/proj/xls/lmopdatanj.xls

http://www.sjindustries.com/marina/marinanews/marina5.htm

http://www.acrion.com/newprojects.htm

http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/HAC/PHA/global/glf_p1.html

http://www.dcoenergy.com/acualandfill.html

http://www.dcoenergy.com/warren.html