Nine Pennsylvania companies will receive financial assistance toward installation of solar arrays at their businesses, reports the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
The state's overall investment of $5.7 million should help recipients save about a cumulative $500,000 a year on energy costs, according to the Pennsylvania governor's office.
In all, the new solar arrays should generate about 3.6 megawatts of electricity, according to PV-tech.org.
GlaxoSmithKline is getting $500,000 toward the purchase and installation of a 406 KW rooftop array at a data center in Upper Providence Township. The $1.9 million project will help save $64,000 a year in utility bills.
The largest of the grants is going to SEC Bellefonte SD Solar One, which sill use its $1.8 million grant to install a rooftop solar array on the Bellefonte High School.
That 1.01 MW system, which comes at a cost of $5.9 million, should provide nearly 40 percent of the school's electricity, helping cut utility bills about $153,000 a year.
Another grant is going to WJ Beitler Co., a trucking and warehouse firm. The company is getting $347,200 toward a $1.06 million, 217.14-kilowatt system on the roof of a warehouse. The system should generate more than 235,000 kilowatt hours of electricity each year, shaving nearly $30,000 a year off its $80,000 electrical bill.
Together with a federal subsidy, about half of the system should be paid for.
A retirement community is getting a $1 million grant to install an 800 KW ground-mounted array. The project, which costs $4.5 million, should help the Masonic Village retirement community save $120,000 on its utility bill each year, according to LancasterOnline.