A landfill in New Jersey is getting a second life as a source of cheaper, cleaner electricity.
The capped landfill in Voorhees Township will be transformed into a community solar farm, a power source for households that otherwise might not be able to benefit from rooftop panels.
Here's what to know
According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, there will soon be a 13.5-acre solar installation on the 35-acre former landfill along Centennial Boulevard, making it part of New Jersey's fast-growing Community Solar Energy Program.
Community solar programs like this one give renters, apartment residents, and homeowners with shaded or unsuitable roofs a way to tap into solar energy without installing panels of their own. Eligible households subscribe to a shared project and receive credits that can reduce their electric bills.
Often, states will set up community solar programs so that low-income households can benefit the most, sometimes guaranteeing utility bill savings.
In an email to The Inquirer, Sawyer Morgan, program manager for New Jersey's Community Solar Energy Program, confirmed that the state sets aside most of the program's renewable power for low- and moderate-income households.
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Morgan also told The Inquirer that more than 51,000 households around the state have already subscribed to the program, which has generated over $18 million in net savings since its first projects went live in 2021.
New Jersey now has 209 community solar projects with a combined capacity of 291 megawatts, according to the Inquirer. The state plans to develop nearly 400 more projects, as well, adding roughly 700 megawatts of capacity.
Community solar generates savings for households that have been shut out of rooftop solar, especially families on tighter budgets. Rather than relying only on private rooftops, developers are using unused and out-of-the-way locations to expand access to clean energy.
As Morgan put it to the Inquirer, "These projects are all on rooftops, canopies, landfills, contaminated sites, mining sites, and certain bodies of water as floating solar."
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