New Jersey Turns Brownfields into Solar Farms

New Jersey is paving its way as a leader in solar energy. The state already ranks second in the United States, after California, in installed solar electric capacity. However, smaller states with large populations like New Jersey are facing a difficult space dilemma so they need to be creative in finding locations for solar panel installations.

The power companies in the state are using brownfield sites for solar power, and call it “solar farms”. It’s a very resourceful and smart idea of utilizing contaminated land for such a useful purpose, not only for the residents of the state but for the nation and earth. On average, such solar farms produce enough power to supply over 150 homes in the adjacent area.

There are hundreds of brownfield areas around the country; highly contaminated former mining and heavy industrial sites that can be turned into something good. These abandoned lots of useless land become a tremendous opportunity not only because they save money but also because of their location – usually in close proximity to population centers and urban or rural downtowns.

Transforming them brings significant environmental benefits for the region, and in the near future more brownfields are going to turn into “brightfields”, which is also made possible in part by the main photovoltaic industry players and suppliers of pv panel characterization tools, etc. to guarantee a smooth and continuous production of affordable solar cells.

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