SOUTH BRUNSWICK, N.J.,
July 28, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Public
Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE&G) and Matrix Development
Group today cut the ribbon on a new rooftop solar installation at a
Matrix-owned building in South Brunswick,
NJ. The 3.0-megawatt (MW) project is part of
PSE&G's Solar 4 All™ program, the utility's flagship solar
effort to help New Jersey reach
its solar energy goals while creating jobs and fostering economic
development.
Solar 4 All is a nationally recognized program that will over
three years develop 80 solar megawatts – enough power to serve
about 13,000 average-sized New
Jersey homes. The program is structured so the financial
benefits – the value of the solar credits (SRECs), federal tax
credits and the sale of the solar energy and capacity– are returned
to customers by offsetting the overall cost of the program.
In addition to the South
Brunswick site, Matrix also hosts a 2.8-megawatt solar
system in Perth Amboy that has
been in service since January 2011.
Both Matrix projects are part of the "centralized" half of
Solar 4 All – PSE&G owns and maintains the grid-connected solar
systems and leases the roof space from Matrix.
"We have put more than 43 megawatts of solar capacity into
service over the last 18 month, and along the way created good
jobs, developed the New Jersey
solar market in a cost effective way and helped the environment,"
said Al Matos, PSE&G's
Vice President – Renewables and Energy Solutions. "All of this
solar power flows into the grid, to provide clean solar energy to
all of our electric customers."
The Partner in Charge, Richard F.X.
Johnson, runs Matrix Renewable Energy Services, a division
of Matrix Development Group of Cranbury,
NJ.
"We are extremely proud of the partnership we've established
with PSE&G in New Jersey,
where Matrix is committed to energy-efficiency best practices at
the more than 10 million square feet of commercial space that we
own and manage throughout the state, as well as the buildings owned
by clients of our Renewable Energy Services division," stated
Johnson. "This solar venture gives us the ability to play a
significant role in expanding access to clean energy— an important
step toward achieving the state's goal of becoming a recognized
leader in the renewable energy arena."
The Matrix building is located at 45 Stults Road in South Brunswick, NJ. The solar system is
comprised of 12,684 crystalline solar panels. The panels cover more
than 318,000 square feet of roof space in total and are connected
directly to the electric grid for the benefit of all PSE&G
electric customers. They will produce enough solar electricity to
power about 500 average-size homes.
"A key Solar 4 All objective is to develop New Jersey's solar assets while also
preserving open space," Matos said. "We're accomplishing this by
installing solar capacity on utility poles and also by utilizing
large warehouse roofs like this Matrix building. By building
these rooftop systems we are conserving open space and providing a
revenue stream to building owners while providing clean solar power
for all of our electric customers to use."
PSE&G is using leading solar energy companies to help deploy
solar systems across the state. Pro-Tech Energy Solutions of
Branchburg, NJ developed the
Stults Road project.
"We are thrilled to have been selected from among the many solar
companies in New Jersey for this
project," said John Drexinger,
principal of Pro-Tech Energy Solutions. "PSE&G and Matrix
have shown incredible initiative in helping New Jersey reach its solar energy goals with
this installation, leading the way for other companies that are
interested in going solar."
In addition to the two Matrix sites, PSE&G has built solar
systems at five Newark schools
totaling 2.7 MW and a 1.7 MW solar system on a CenterPoint
Properties warehouse in Bayonne.
PSE&G has also installed solar systems at it own
facilities – a 0.9 MW system at its Central Division Headquarters
in Somerset, NJ and a 0.7 MW
system at its Edison Training and Development Center, which
includes roof, ground, carport and pole-attached installations.
The utility also has four large ground-mounted solar farms in
service on PSE&G-owned properties. These solar farms are
located in Yardville (4.4 MW)
Linden (3.2 MW), Edison (2.0 MW) and Trenton (1.3 MW). Each are among the largest
solar farms developed in New
Jersey and three (Edison,
Trenton and Linden) were built on remediated
brownfields.
State regulators approved PSE&G's Solar 4 All program in
July 2009. The approved program
required the utility to make investments to install 80 megawatts of
solar power, enhancing the economic growth of New Jersey, creating jobs and vastly
increasing the amount of renewable energy capacity in the state of
New Jersey. The program's first segment consists of installing
up to 40 megawatts of highly distributed pole-attached smart solar
units in neighborhoods on utility poles in PSE&G's electric
service territory, which includes the state's six largest cities
and roughly 300 rural and suburban communities. This is the
largest pole-attached solar installation in the world, with the
smart solar units connected directly into PSE&G's electric
distribution system providing solar generated power to all
customers.
The second segment of the Solar 4 All program focuses on 40
megawatts of centralized solar facilities, such as the Matrix
system and other solar sites on PSE&G owned or leased
properties connected directly to the grid thus benefiting all
customers.
Public Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE&G) is
New Jersey's oldest and largest
regulated gas and electric delivery utility, serving nearly
three-quarters of the state's population. PSE&G is the
winner of the ReliabilityOne Award for superior electric system
reliability. PSE&G is a subsidiary of Public Service
Enterprise Group Incorporated (PSEG) (NYSE: PEG), a diversified
energy company (www.pseg.com).
Matrix Development Group is a privately held, full-service
real estate investment and development company with offices in
New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The Company is active in the
commercial, industrial, urban, residential, golf and hospitality
markets throughout the Northeast and mid-Atlantic regions. Since
its founding in 1979, the Company has developed real estate valued
in excess of $1 billion and has been
recognized for its leadership by numerous charitable, community and
real estate organizations.
For more information on Matrix Development Group, please
contact the Company's Cranbury, New
Jersey, office at 732-521-2900 or visit
http://www.matrixcompanies.com.
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SOURCE Public Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE&G)