New Jersey's largest planned public solar-energy installation? New Brunswick is forging ahead with a plan to turn sunshine into cold, hard cash.Over the next two years, the Riverside City will place solar panels on 11 public sites. Solar panels will be set up on municipal buildings, parking garages, and schools. Also, a new high school will be the first building to receive the solar panels. The reward of the project? A lot of money and, of course, energy-efficiency.
Once complete, New Brunswick hopes to run half the city by solar power. Mayor James Cahill says, "Given the amount of property that is maintained or owned by the city, the school district and the parking authority, we thought it would be worthwhile to take a look at a merger of all the properties to see if we could assemble a significant amount of property to make a real impact."
Mitchell Karon, the city’s parking authority director explains: "The Riverside City with a population of roughly 50,000 is not a gloomy, cloudy place like Seattle, but also is not sun-baked New Mexico. Projections of savings were based on realistic data."
New Brunswick isn't alone. By 2020, New Jersey is aiming to have 30% of its energy come from the sun and wind. Although all government bodies are in agreement of approval, PSE&G will be losing business.
According to an article by New Jersey Real Time News, PSE&G offers to lease rooftop space from businesses, Urban Enterprise Zones, and residences, but the utility keeps the energy for its grid.
When asked if the company is threatened, Susanna Chiu, PSE&G director of business development replies, "It’s a different business proposition, but it gets us to the same end goal," she adds.
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