New Jersey utility Public Service Electric and Gas Company has converted two landfills into solar farms, bringing its total landfill/brownfield solar projects to seven.
The two new projects — the 10.14 MW-dc Parklands Solar Farm in Bordentown, New Jersey and the 11.18 MW-dc Kinsley Solar Farm in Deptford, New Jersey — are the two largest centralized solar projects built to date by PSE&G.
The Parklands Solar Farm transforms 40 acres of landfill space into a solar generation powerhouse by installing 33,402 solar panels, while the Kinsley Solar Farm fills 35 acres of unused landfill space with 36,841 solar panels. The solar panels generate enough electricity to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 15,000 tons annually.
Waste Management, which owns the Parklands site, partnered with PSE&G on that project.
In October 2014 ISM Solar Solutions partnered with WatershedGeo to develop utility scale solar arrays on closed landfills.
WatershedGeo provides permanent closures for landfills and brownfields using its products including ClosureTurf; the partnership will install solar energy systems on existing and new ClosureTurf installations. This allows landfill owners and operators to “turn a liability into an asset,” says WatershedGeo president Mike Ayers.
