A new solar farm will generate enough electricity to power 45% of the EPA’s Edison, NJ, campus.
The agency installed 4,788 photovoltaic panels that will generate up to 1.5 MW and produce 2 million kWh of electricity in its first year, according to EPA Region 2 Administrator Pete Lopez. The panels are positioned at a 25-degree tilt facing south to maximize panel productivity and the use of the space, and the spacing of the panels accounts for future snowfall and shading from adjacent rows and structures. The renewable energy source will reduce emissions of air pollution and the EPA’s energy spend, which lowers the cost to taxpayers.
“It’s fitting that EPA lead by example in using renewable energy sources, and I’d like to see efforts like this expanded throughout New Jersey and the region,” Lopez says. “The EPA supports the efforts of state and local governments and other organizations to explore renewable energy projects by providing expert advice, technical support and tools through our Green Power Program.”
Whenever the solar field produces more energy than needed, the excess power flows to the grid maintained by the local utility, PSE&G, which will then credit the EPA for the excess power. The two organizations have an interconnection agreement governing the operation of the solar farm.
The project was contracted through the Defense Logistics Agency Energy, which provides the Department of Defense and other federal agencies with energy solutions in the most effective and efficient manner possible.
