(Newark, NJ) – As part of its Solar 4 All™ program, PSE&G is installing pole-attached solar energy units in the more than 300 municipalities in its electric service territory. When the project is complete in late 2012, the pole-attached solar units will provide 40-megawatts of solar electricity – enough to power about 6,500 average size New Jersey homes annually. Solar unit installations started in 2009 and to date approximately 109,000 units are installed, operating and producing clean energy from the sun.
Beginning in mid- to late- October, PSE&G contractors will begin installing pole-attached solar units in Bloomfield. They will be placed on utility poles that offer a clear exposure to the southern sky, access to the proper voltage electric wires and where installation does not interfere with existing equipment on the pole. Not all utility poles will receive a solar unit since only those that meet these three criteria are eligible. The panels are approximately 2 ½ feet high by 5 feet wide and will be installed about 15 feet off the ground.
“These solar units bring the direct benefit of clean, renewable energy to all our customers since the electricity they generate is used in homes and businesses in the immediate neighborhood,” said Al Matos, vice president for renewables and energy solutions for PSE&G. “We would need 170 acres of land to place 40 megawatts worth of traditional solar farms. By utilizing these utility poles, we take up zero land space, which is a great way to install a large amount of solar capacity in a crowded state like New Jersey while making solar available to all.”
PSE&G estimates that when the full 40 megawatts of pole attached solar units are installed, they will reduce the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the air by 31 metric tons per year, the amount of nitrous oxide (NOx) by 58 metric tons per year, and the amount of sulfur oxide (SOx) by 135 metric tons per year. This is the same as removing about 3,800 cars from the road for one year.
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