The Plainsboro Planning Board will review whether a proposal by the New Jersey Audubon Society to construct a solar array to power the environmental center in the 1,000-acre Plainsboro Preserve is feasible and fits with the township’s master plan.
Les Varga, the township’s director of planning and zoning, told the Township Committee last month about the proposal. The Township Committee sent it to the Planning Board for an opinion. The Planning Board is expected to review the proposal on Monday, July 18.
The project, which is still in the planning stages, would include the construction of a series of solar arrays that would help power the building. It would contain four rows of solar arrays with the ability to generate 90 kilowatts of energy, said Varga.
“It would offset the energy costs of the environmental center right there on site,” he said. Varga said officials hope to save about $10,000 a year in energy costs.
The array structure would sit about one or two feet off the ground, with a tilt toward the sun. At the highest point, the panels will be about nine or ten feet tall and about 190 feet long, said Varga.
The Planning Board will render an opinion on the project’s feasibility and whether it keeps within the township’s master plan.
The ultimate decision will be made by the Plainsboro Township Committee. The Plainsboro Preserve is made up of parcels of land that are owned by the county as well as some that are owned by the township. “Where the proposed array is located is on township-owned property,” said Varga.
The solar array would cover about .4 acres. “There will be a fence around the whole structure,” he said. “It would be like a deer fence. The panels themselves emit no electricity, nor do they provide any type of unsafe conditions. It’s just a matter of protecting the area around the panels because they are pretty fragile.”
If approved, the solar project would also serve as an educational component for the New Jersey Audubon.
“When they take people on hikes in the area where the panels would be, they can actually stop and talk about solar energy,” said Varga.
