Donald Ellis Moore JACKSON — Going solar may be one way for the municipality and the Jackson School District to reduce the cost of energy in the future.
The topic of solar energy was discussed at the April 13 meeting of the Jackson Township Council.
“Some time ago we talked about the possibility of having a power purchase agreement [PPA], where we would have solar panels placed on our government buildings and on our school buildings,” council PresidentMike Kafton said. “This would essentially cost the taxpayers very little or no money.”
Kafton said Jackson’s Going Green Committee has researched PPAs.
With Board of Education members Barbara Fiero and Scott Sargent in attendance, council members and the public listened to a presentation about solar energy from Donald Ellis Moore, associate vice president for operations at Richard Stockton College, and Michael Winka, director of the New Jersey Office of Clean Energy, Board of Public Utilities.
Moore, who resides in Jackson, oversees project design and construction, plant management and planning activities at Richard Stockton College in southern New Jersey.
“Richard Stockton College is a very green institution,” Moore said. “We have a lot of energy-efficient development, geothermal [energy], solar [energy] and a lot of collaboration with the Pinelands [Commission].”
He showed photos of solar panels that are mounted over parking lots and cleared land.
“We decided to pursue a renewable energy source without any outlay of capital. The solar canopies generate enough electricity to feed into our grid” and produce close to 1.4 megawatts of energy, he explained.
“Solar [energy] can generate electricity. Solar can generate hot water and meet the demands of management,” he said.
Moore explained that the college entered into a long-term lease for the production of the energy.
“We don’t own the solar panels and we don’t own the structure, but we do own the ground beneath it,” he explained. “So we entered into a long-term lease, a PPA, which says [the power producer] will generate a certain amount of electricity on an annual basis and we will buy that certain rate and it will be purchased over a certain period of time. Ours was a 10-year deal.”
He said there was no out-of-pocket costs to the college, and he told the council and the public that there was a significant savings from the electricity that was generated.
Winka said there were no capital costs for the construction of the solar units and no need to bid out the operational costs for the solar panels.
“It is all included in the PPA,” said Winka.
Moore added, “That is a savings to a municipality or to a school.”
Winka said one advantage for a public entity to enter into a PPA is the tax credits that can be obtained at the federal level.