Pennsylvania Invests $5m In 4 MW of Solar Projects

Pennsylvania Governor Edward Rendell announced 13 new solar energy projects in the state today. The projects were made possible by more than $5 million from the Alternative Energy Investment Fund, in turn made possible by federal ARRA funds earmarked for renewable energy. Rendell has helped push Pennsylvania to the forefront of the solar industry, overseeing the introduction of the state’s first solar energy rebate program last summer (the Pennsylvania Sunshine Solar program, currently providing up to $22,500 for home solar projects).

Individual solar energy program grants for the projects include:

• $44,000 to Terradime: 25 kw rooftop solar panel array on a new condo building in Pittsburgh. Terradime is also including electric car charging stations in the building plans.
• $1 million to VS Solar LP: 800 kw rooftop solar panel array on a shopping center; this will cover an estimated 90 percent of common area electric use.
• $995,440 to SEC BESD Solar One LLC: 541 kw PV system for the Bald Eagle Middle/High School in Boggs Township (the school is entering into a PPA agreement for this $2.7 million total project). The school will get more than 50 percent of its power from the 670,000 kWh produced each year by its solar panels.
• $445,280 also to SEC BESD Solar One LLC: 242 kw solar array for Bald Eagle/Wingate Elementary School, because Boggs Township is utterly cool and wants its students to have access to as much solar power as possible, apparently.
• $500,000 to Integrys Energy Services: 387 kw ground-mounted solar panel array in Chester County.
• $123,941 to West Chester Borough: The Borough is putting up a bigger, better parking garage that will have 68 kw worth of solar panels on a rooftop canopy.
• $580,000 to Allen Distribution LP: 400 kw solar energy system on a distribution facility in Cumberland County.
• $125,000 to UGI Development Co.: 500 kw of ground-mounted solar panels in Dauphin County.
• $298,605 to Axion Power Manufacturing Inc.: this is the only grant of the 13 to go to research into solar energy storage R&D.
• $35,000 to the Montoursville Area School District: 20 kw solar array at the C.E. McCall Middle School.
• $58,590 to Positive Energy Pennsylvania 1 LLC: 30.8 kw rooftop PV system at the Williams Township Public Works building.
• $436,800 to Orion Energy Systems Inc.: 240 kw solar panel installation at the Philadelphia International Airport. The panels will go up at a parking facility on-site but owned by a third party, and should produce 273,000 kWh annually.
• $1 million to Sterman Masser Inc.: awesomely huge 1 MW solar PV system on 6 acres in Schuylkill County. The solar energy will be used to offset power consumption at Sterman Masser’s potato processing plant in Hubley Township.