Township Sewerage Authority Installs 4,700-Plus Solar Panels

The Bernards Township Sewerage Authority announced it has completed its installation of 4,700 solar panels at its sewerage treatment facility off Martinsville Road. The project is to begin generating power as soon as final approval comes from Jersey Central Power & Light Co., Township Engineer Tom Timko said on Wednesday.

The Sewerage Authority's chairwoman, Carolyn Gaziano, said in an earlier press release that the $4.8 million project, construction of a 1.1 megawatt solar photovoltaic field, includes more than 4,700 solar panels on ground mounts, the drying bed roof, and two steel canopies that extend over the lagoons at the treatment plant.

“We are very pleased that this project has been done on time and on budget," Gaziano said. "This will not only reduce our operating costs, but is an additional, ecologically sensible and progressive initiative in the drive toward energy independence."

Timko said the cost of the installation was covered by the authority's budget, which is separate from the municial budget and township operations.

The township is moving ahead with at a closed section of the Pill Hill landfill off Pill Hill Road. However, in that case an outside vendor is responsible for installing and managing the solar field, and will pay the township $470,000 to lease the land for the next 20 years. The Township Committee awarded a contract to a vendor in April, who had 18 months from that date to install that solar project.

The sewerage authority's project was constructed at a cost of $4.27 per watt plus the cost for a new roof over the drying bed, according to the press release issued last Friday. The authority anticipates saving $150,000 a year in electrical costs, in addition to $1.5 million in revenues generated from the sale of Solar Renewable Energy Certificates to energy providers.

Savings would be applied toward the cost of the authority's electric costs. During 2010, the authority consumed 2,014 KWH of electricity at a cost of $266,000, the press release said.

Photos of the project and more information about the Sewerage Authority is available on the Bernards Township website.