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Princeton Plans Massive Solar Field

First Posted: 02/ 4/11 08:26 AM Updated: 02/ 4/11 08:39 AM

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Princeton University will soon be home to the college world's largest solar collector field, the Daily Princetonian reports.

Planned to be built on 27 acres of Princeton land by 2012, the field is predicted reduce the school's energy costs by 8 percent. The field will be composed of 16,500 photovoltaic panels, creating enough energy to fuel 700 households.

The Times of Trenton has more on the field's potential power:

A field that size could generate 8 million kilowatt-hours per year, or enough to cover 5.5 percent of the campus' total electricity needs based on an annual average, according to SunPower Corp., the company slated to build the system.

However, on a summer day when the sun is shining brightest, and the electric load is highest at the school, the field could provide as much as 20 percent of campus power in a given hour, said Michael McKay, Princeton's vice president for facilities.

According to the Princetonian, the field will be financed by a "groundbreaking" funding model:

[The university] will partly pay for the solar collector field under the New Jersey's Solar Renewable Energy Certificate program, through which the state will issue one SREC to the University for every 1,000 kilowatt-hours of solar energy it generates, until 2020.

The university will sell the credits to a utility company to help offset the costs of the project until 2020, after which it will retire the credits by ceasing to sell them in order to help reduce carbon dioxide emission levels.

What's your school doing to go green? Weigh in below.

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The NortheastPrincetonPrinceton University will soon be home to the college world's largest solar collector field, the Daily Princetonian reports.The field will be composed of 16,500 photovoltaic panels, creating enoug...Princeton University will soon be home to the college world's largest solar collector field, the Daily Princetonian reports.The field will be composed of 16,500 photovoltaic panels, creating enoug... Loading... HuffPostCollege Princeton to build massive solar field http://huff.to/fEOAW5 22 minutes ago from web greenbizdaily http://bit.ly/GrBiz Princeton Plans Massive Solar Field #solar #green http://bit.ly/fLcEiV 41 minutes ago from twitterfeed GreenEnergyInfo Princeton Plans Massive Solar Field #solar http://bit.ly/gywhGP 50 minutes ago from twitterfeed AlternativeNRG Solar News: Princeton Plans Massive Solar Field: ... of campus power in a given hour, said Michael McKay, Prince... http://bit.ly/ig0jON 1 hour ago from twitterfeed AlternativeNRG Solar News: Ivy League School Gets Greener: One of the most prominent institutions in academia, Princeton Univer... http://bit.ly/iej2dA 16 hours ago from twitterfeed GreenEnergyInfo Princeton University plans 27-acre solar field to serve campus energy needs #solar http://bit.ly/gLnXt4 24 hours ago from twitterfeed greenbizdaily http://bit.ly/GrBiz Princeton University plans 27-acre solar field to serve campus energy needs #solar #green http://bit.ly/hRyTvK 1 day ago from twitterfeed AlternativeNRG Solar News: 5.3 MW Solar Farm For Princeton University: The facility will generate around 8 million kilowatt-hou... http://bit.ly/fFHvPp 1 day ago from twitterfeed greenbizdaily http://bit.ly/GrBiz 5.3 MW Solar Farm For Princeton University #solar #green http://bit.ly/gIgl09 1 day ago from twitterfeed GreenEnergyInfo 5.3 MW Solar Farm For Princeton University #solar http://bit.ly/gNDQLR 1 day ago from twitterfeed Show more results TOP INFLUENCERS ON THIS TOPIC 67 66 57 53 TOP LINKS ON THIS TOPIC 1 of 5

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Post to Facebook.Post to Blogger.Post to Twitter.Post to WordPress.Post to TypePad.Post to Tumblr.Post to Yahoo! View All Recency  |  Popularity martinfrosa   0 minute ago (11:35 AM) 26 Fans Princeton, I salute you but why stop at just 5.5% or your energy needs? Why don't you go all out and try for 100% solar - now that would make a statement! The thing is, going 100% solar would require 490 acres for the solar field, and since your main campus area is 500 acres, you would have 10 acres left over, more than enough for the rest of campus activities­.

Do it Princeton, go all the way! LOL

By the way, what is the total capital cost and the project payback, with or without the SRECs? Just wondering. martinfrosa: Princeton, I salute you but why stop at just 5.5% http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/martinfrosa/princeton-plans-massive-s_n_818562_76283973.html Permalink  | Share it DanSc   3 minutes ago (11:32 AM) 59 Fans Follow New Jersey seems like a less than ideal place for solar power DanSc: New Jersey seems like a less than ideal place for http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/DanSc/princeton-plans-massive-s_n_818562_76283615.html Permalink  | Share it Joe Pelcher   43 minutes ago (10:52 AM) 12 Fans Good to see the hometown representi­ng. The more solar panels are purchased the more capitalism can help the industry grow towards something affordable and effective for personal homes. Joe_Pelcher: Good to see the hometown representing. The more solar panels http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Joe_Pelcher/princeton-plans-massive-s_n_818562_76279129.html Permalink  | Share it guinganbresil   53 minutes ago (10:41 AM) 29 Fans How much is this thing going to cost?

I would like to calculate the payback time to see if Princeton knows what it is doing or is suffering from craniorect­al impaction.

(I have found that the payback time seems to be proportion­al to the difficulty in finding all of the needed informatio­n to calculate it... I will leave that theory to others to flesh out...) guinganbresil: How much is this thing going to cost? I would http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/guinganbresil/princeton-plans-massive-s_n_818562_76277920.html Permalink  | Share it guinganbresil   48 minutes ago (10:47 AM) 29 Fans Found out what kind of sun trackers they will use (SunPowers­' T0 Trackers), how long the mount poles are (four to five feet), what angle they are at (20 degrees) and found this most excellent quote:

"It is our hope that the project at Princeton will serve as a national model and that colleges and universiti­es across the U.S. will soon recognize the same energy- and cost-savin­gs through the use of photovolta­ic solar installati­ons."

But no total cost...

http://int­ernational­.pv-tech.o­rg/news/su­npower_to_­install_ke­y_equipmen­t_to_finan­ce_5.3mw_s­olar_insta­llation_at­_pr guinganbresil: Found out what kind of sun trackers they will use http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/guinganbresil/princeton-plans-massive-s_n_818562_76278521.html Permalink  | Share it guinganbresil   42 minutes ago (10:53 AM) 29 Fans I found out how many cars it will take off the road (1,272 equivalent­) and how many tons of coal it will save (3,090 metric tons) per year, what landscapin­g it will have (a row of trees) and that it is by the NJ Transit "Dinky" commuter line...

No total cost - not looking good... guinganbresil: I found out how many cars it will take off http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/guinganbresil/princeton-plans-massive-s_n_818562_76279244.html Permalink  | Share it guinganbresil   35 minutes ago (10:59 AM) 29 Fans Here is a good one:

http://www­.dailyprin­cetonian.c­om/2011/02­/04/27475/

From this I learned that it is expected to last 30 years - that is good to know! Is the payback time greater than or less than 30 years?

Here is a great quote:

“In some ways what is more exciting than the solar panels themselves is the financial model that we worked out as an institutio­n,” she said. “The financial model actually has the more far reaching implicatio­ns in terms of making this technology more accessible to nonprofit organizati­ons.”

Charles Ponzi was also very excited about his "Financial Model"...

Still looking for total cost... Can Princeton pull it out as good business decision? Or is it just another rip-off? guinganbresil: Here is a good one: http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2011/02/04/27475/ From this I learned http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/guinganbresil/princeton-plans-massive-s_n_818562_76279951.html Permalink  | Share it guinganbresil   29 minutes ago (11:05 AM) 29 Fans Here we go! A PR Newswire relase about the financing! That should have it.

http://www­.prnewswir­e.com/news­-releases/­key-equipm­ent-financ­e-provides­-equipment­-financing­-of-photov­oltaic-sol­ar-panels-­for-projec­t-at-princ­eton-unive­rsity-1151­00934.html

Somehow they over looked the total cost...

But we DO know that it is financed by Key Equipment Finance and that "It is our hope that the project at Princeton will serve as a national model and that colleges and universiti­es across the U.S. will soon recognize the same energy- and cost-savin­gs through the use of photovolta­ic solar installati­ons."

Still looking bad... guinganbresil: Here we go! A PR Newswire relase about the financing! http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/guinganbresil/princeton-plans-massive-s_n_818562_76280608.html Permalink  | Share it guinganbresil   22 minutes ago (11:13 AM) 29 Fans Here is some interestin­g info:

"Princeton University says the project will be funded and owned Key Equipment Finance, who will lease it to the institutio­n."

http://www­.energymat­ters.com.a­u/index.ph­p?main_pag­e=news_art­icle&artic­le_id=1323

So it will be built on Princeton land, and they will have to lease it... What happens if the SREC's are worthless? Who is left holding the bag? Princeton? Key Equipment Finance? Depends on the terms of the lease, I guess... guinganbresil: Here is some interesting info: "Princeton University says the project http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/guinganbresil/princeton-plans-massive-s_n_818562_76281400.html Permalink  | Share it There are More Comments on this Thread. Click Here To See them All HUFFPOST SUPER USER Guitarsandmore   60 minutes ago (10:35 AM) 188 Fans Major Universiti­es are investing in renewable energies. Meanwhile right wing nut talk show hosts are still claiming that all of this green economy stuff is a communist plot to destroy our country and put us all into clown cars. (Dr Laura)(Sea­n Hannity). Guitarsandmore: Major Universities are investing in renewable energies. Meanwhile right wing http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Guitarsandmore/princeton-plans-massive-s_n_818562_76277245.html Permalink  | Share it guinganbresil   1 hour ago (10:27 AM) 29 Fans "Solar Renewable Energy Certificat­e"?

So the government creates a "Certifica­te" from nothing and gives it free of charge to those who do what the government wants. Then the owners of these new "Certifica­tes" are "free" to sell it to actual producers who are forced to buy them by the government­...

To quote a HuffPost favorite: "You Betcha!" or maybe it is more appropriat­e to say "WTF"... guinganbresil: "Solar Renewable Energy Certificate"? So the government creates a "Certificate" http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/guinganbresil/princeton-plans-massive-s_n_818562_76276394.html Permalink  | Share it ThinkCreeps   2 hours ago (9:43 AM) 491 Fans Someone may want to have a look at the side of the California Institute of Technology that faces the sky before allocating the most-solar­-powered-e­lite-colle­ge award. ThinkCreeps: Someone may want to have a look at the side http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/ThinkCreeps/princeton-plans-massive-s_n_818562_76272339.html Permalink  | Share it chaucer1   2 hours ago (9:25 AM) 110 Fans Go, Tigers! chaucer1: Go, Tigers! http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/chaucer1/princeton-plans-massive-s_n_818562_76271074.html Permalink  | Share it     New comments on this entry — Click to refreshLoading comments… Follow Huffington Post Loading twitter module... Most Popular on HuffPostadYQBqpv2JMOYRaHxkt0h%2FJmlBGwDM1XZ%2BKIGRZwIEa5hyY5ceTQLEPLeZOT1cMKJ8D6WxUp6r%2FYICsGxXA1rw%3D%3DWv1Rs2sm35E8Zlyxm8BDMq4djlnFQECVxXG7ktsBrJzIU6p6oyrOMIOam9s4DS9C33gon6I5EzTJQfk%2F5xP8mA%3D%3D1 of 2 Anderson Cooper Attacked By Pro-Mubarak Mob
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