By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
A grass field between Rider University’s softball diamond and I-95 is poised to sprout nearly 2,700 solar energy panels now that the Zoning Board of Adjustment approved a use variance at its June 15 meeting.
Rider University and Public Service Gas & Electric Co. requested the variance because a solar energy installation is not a permitted use in the Education Government Institutions zone in which Rider is located.
The new solar array will generate about 1 megawatt of electricity for PSE&G, which is enough to provide electricity to power 250 homes daily. PSE&G has been ordered by the state Board of Public Utilities to construct 80 megawatts of solar energy and the proposed solar farm will help it to meet that goal.
None of the electricity generated by the solar array will be used by Rider University. PSE&G will lease the land for the solar installation from the university, which plans to use the money to pay for sustainable initiatives on campus. The solar array is expected to be operational by early fall.
Attorney Marc Solomon, who represents Rider University, said the site is “well buffered” from the adjacent Long Acres neighborhood, and motorists traveling at 70 miles per hour on the highway won’t have enough time to look at the field, he said.
”I don’t accept the proposition that seeing solar panels is a bad thing,” Mr. Solomon said, adding that PSE&G is mandated to generate 20 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2017 including 5 percent from solar energy.
Attorney Kevin Moore, who represents PSE&G, said the state Municipal Land Use Law has been amended to allow solar energy installations to be considered an inherently beneficial use. This means there is a benefit to the public, which should be considered by the board as it determines whether to grant a variance.
Engineer Daniel Miola, who also represents PSE&G, told the board the field is an “ideal location” because it does not require any clearing of trees or vegetation.
The plan calls for 18 rows of solar panels, with 95 to 165 panels per row. The field will be surrounded by a six-foot-tall chain link fence, which will be wrapped with an opaque covering, he said.
