Princeton University is planning to install a solar collector field on a 27-acre piece of farmland off Washington Road within West Windsor borders, the university announced this month.
According to information released by the university, the 5.3-megawatt solar collector field will consist of 16,500 photovoltaic panels and is expected to be one of the largest single installations at a U.S. college or university.
The project site is located on land adjacent to Princeton’s main campus between the Dinky train line, the Delaware & Raritan Canal, Washington Road, and Route 1. A row of trees along Washington Road will block most of the site from view. New landscaping will also be installed to screen the site from the road, the lake, and the canal towpath, the press release stated.
Construction could begin as early as this summer and be completed by summer 201, depending on approvals from local and state authorities, officials said. The collector field should generate 8 million kilowatt-hours per year — enough to power the equivalent of 700 homes, or, at Princeton, enough to meet 5.5 percent of the total annual campus electrical needs, the press release stated.
The solar power system will be mounted on 4- to 5-foot poles facing south. About 80 percent of the system will be compose of SunPower To Trackers, which use a global positioning system to track the sun each day to maximize energy captures. The remainder of the system will use solar technology that fixes the panels at a tilt of 25 degrees.
Councilman George Borek asked about the assessment on the property where the future panels would be located. “Is a solar farm still considered a farm?” Borek asked Township Attorney Michael Herbert.
Borek said he wanted to know whether the solar field would change the assessment of the property, and whether that would mean the township would receive more taxes on the property. Herbert said that state law encourages solar farms on open parcels and that he did not believe the assessment would change.
Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh said the solar collector fields project is consistent with West Windsor’s goals. “It’s a very positive thing for the whole community,” he said. “We are going to do whatever we can to expedite the process.”
He said Princeton University will not have to go through the township’s Planning or Zoning boards for approval. “This is a very straightforward process,” he said, adding there would rather be engineering permits and other approvals the university would have to obtain.
