Morristown Mayor Donald Cresitello views the solar panels installed at its wastewater treatment facility. Image sourced from The Star Ledger.

Renewable energy company Vanguard Energy Partners, LLC has finished installing a 578-kilowatt (kW) solar photovoltaic (PV) system at the Morristown Wastewater Treatment Plant in New Jersey. The company partnered with Ferreira Construction Company, Inc. in building Morristown’s first solar energy project.

Vanguard is in charge of the design and overall installation of the solar energy system. Ferreira Construction provided site work, civil engineering, and steel erection for the solar installation. The solar installation features multiple ground and roof-mounted arrays, including a solar canopy structure that was erected over a filtration tank to maximize space. The system consists of 2,886 solar modules from Kyocera Solar and BP Solar.

The system will produce approximately 635,800-kilowatt hours (kWh) of clean, renewable solar energy to cover 40% of the wastewater treatment facility’s electricity needs. This is the equivalent of conserving 49,318 gallons of gasoline, preserving three acres of forest, and taking 81 cars off the road.

The system is expected to save Morristown taxpayers a minimum of $90,000 a year by generating the electricity that not only powers the wastewater treatment plant, but also increases revenue by selling Solar Renewal Energy Credits (SREC). With its energy savings and SREC revenues, the project will be able to pay for itself in less than eight years.

According to a report from The Star Ledger, the project initially cost $4.6 million, but the town has received a $1.5 million incentive rebate from the New Jersey Clean Energy Program, bringing the total cost down to $3.2 million.

Noveda Technologies’ SunFlow Monitor™ will track in real time via the Internet the solar production, facility consumption, and system efficiency of the solar installation.

Vanguard Energy Partners, LLC is a result of a joint venture between Ferreira Construction Company LLC and New Jersey Solar Solutions, Inc. The company provides power and energy-efficient solutions for the commercial and industrial sectors, specializing in the design and installation of large-scale solar installations. With over 100 solar electric installations, the company has completed over eight megawatts of DC-rated capacity. Vanguard’s headquarters is located in Branchburg, New Jersey, with operating offices in New Jersey, New York, and Florida.

Ferreira Construction Company LLC is a construction firm that serves the tri-state area. The company has a bonding capacity of $200 million and over 100 road and bridge projects under its belt. Its headquarters is located in Branchburg, New Jersey, with a southern division office located in Stuart, Florida.


-  Natassia Y. Laforteza

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