Solar Energy Units Installed on Chestnut Drive

Solar energy units have been installed on utility poles on Chestnut Drive.

The units are part of PSE&G’s Solar 4 All program. The energy company is planning on installing the units in more than 300 municipalities within its service territory.

Contractors are examining other potential locations in Wayne to install the units. They will only be placed on utility poles that have a clear exposure to the southern sky, have access to the proper voltage wires, and where they will not interfere with existing equipment. The solar panels themselves are 2 and one-half feet high and 5 feet wide.

“The panels connect directly into the power gird,” said Fran Sullivan, a spokesman with PSE&G. “The energy gathered from them replaces some of the energy generated by traditional fossil fuels.”

It could not be determined how many more units will be installed in town.

PSE&G customers will not see a direct savings in their energy bills due to the units. Electricity gathered from the units is sold into the wholesale electric grid. PSE&G produces Solar Renewable Energy Certificates and federal investment tax credits and monetizes their value. That value offsets the overall cost of the program.

The project is scheduled to be complete in late 2012.

The units are expected to provide 40 megawatts of solar electricity ­— enough to power about 6,500 average-size New Jersey home annually.

Approximately 88,000 units are currently operating.

PSE&G estimates that, when complete, the project will reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the air by 31 metric tons annually. This is the same as removing 3,800 cars from the road for one year.