Asbury Park-based Solar Landscape, together with regulatory and elected officials, solar energy business leaders and real estate-connected executives, celebrated the completion of a new community solar project that will bring solar energy at a discount to almost 300 households.
The Piscataway community solar installation is one of Solar Landscape’s 54 community solar projects in New Jersey.
Installed, owned and operated by Solar Landscape, the 1.75-megawatt (DC) renewable energy project in Middlesex County is part of a 9.7 MW portfolio of 11 community solar projects hosted by Sudler Cos. and GTJ REIT Inc. that will soon power over 1,500 New Jersey homes, the majority of which will be low- to moderate-income households.
The Piscataway project was approved by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities in October 2021 and nearby residents can enroll now to receive discounted energy by the end of 2023.
Community solar is New Jersey’s most shovel-ready clean energy program. The program was created through legislation sponsored by New Jersey State Sen. Bob Smith (D-Piscataway), who was on hand to celebrate the project.
“Community solar brings the promise of solar energy to low- and moderate-income New Jerseyans and makes them part of the fight to resist global climate change,” Smith said.
By subscribing nearby households to solar energy at a discount, the installation will bring benefits to Piscataway residents.
“Great jobs and green energy are fantastic benefits that these logistics centers bring to Piscataway,” Piscataway Mayor Brian Wahler said. “Hard-working residents are earning good salaries at these commercial sites and now solar energy is produced at them for New Jersey families. I am also grateful that low- and moderate-income families can get a break on their PSE&G bill because of these building upgrades of solar panels.”
“I want to thank Solar Landscape and Sudler Cos. for making a wise investment in Piscataway,” Wahler continued. “I am thrilled that we can optimize our corporate locations to help the environment. I also thank Colart for being an incredible corporate partner to our township and again demonstrating its dedication to our community.”
“This project is yet another exciting milestone in achieving Gov. (Phil) Murphy’s clean energy goals and putting New Jersey at the forefront of solar development,” New Jersey Board of Public Utilities Commissioner Christine Guhl-Sadovy said. “We look forward to continuing our progress through the community solar program toward making clean energy accessible to all New Jerseyans.”
“Community solar is a proven and efficient way to advance the clean energy transition,” Solar Landscape co-founder and CEO Shaun Keegan said. “New Jersey has created a model for community solar that demonstrates how valuable commercial rooftops can be as we transition away from fossil fuels and toward a more sustainable future that doesn’t use precious open space. By installing community solar projects on warehouses and large commercial buildings, we generate the power closer to where it will be used, reducing burden on the local grid and the need for additional transmission lines.”
For Sudler Cos. and GTJ REIT, Inc, the project represents a way to achieve environmental, social and governance goals, engage with its tenants and be a good neighbor to the community surrounding the project.
“Thanks to community solar and Solar Landscape, we’re taking advantage of an under-utilized asset — our rooftops — and helping our community at the same time,” Brian Sudler, principal at Sudler Cos. said. “This project helps advance our environmental goals and strengthens connections with our tenants and nearby residents.”
