Small, 200-watt panels are being installed on utility poles as part of a program designed by the state's largest utility, Public Service Electric & Gas. The program, called Solar 4 All, plans to have 80 megawatts of solar power installed on poles by 2013, doubling New Jersey's solar generating capacity.
PSE&G is installing panels on poles that "face in a southerly direction [and] are not obstructed by trees or buildings that would block the sun," company spokesman Bonnie Sheppard said to the website.
Solar 4 All was approved by New Jersey's Board of Public Utilities in July. At the time of its approval, PSE&G announced that it would source solar panels from South Plainfield, New Jersey-based Petra Solar. "PSE&G [will be able] to enhance the reliability of its delivery of electricity to customers," Petra Solar CEO Shihab Kuran said at the time.
Once the 80 megawatts are installed, PSE&G president Ralph LaRossa said in July, New Jersey will have "more solar capacity than … any state other than California." And New Jersey's renewable energy targets are only superseded by California's: the former hopes to generate 30 percent of its energy renewably by 2020 and the latter is shooting for 33 percent.
