Turner boosts corporate solar-electric project
New Jersey effort is nearing completion of first phase.
By Paola Loriggio /The Newark Star-Ledger
SOUTH PLAINFIELD, N.J. /March 25, 2007
source: The Stateman
http://www.statesman.com/business/content/business/stories/statesmanhomes/03/25/25turner.html
The first phase of the country’s largest corporate solar-electric system is nearing completion in New Jersey, and it’s got some star power behind it. Media mogul Ted Turner’s new venture, the renewable energy company DT Solar, is behind the project. Turner visited the Hall’s Warehouse Corp. facility last week to tout the 4,000 solar panels that have been installed on the roof. When complete, the project will have 8,000 solar panels to power two refrigerated warehouses. The company provides refrigerated and dry storage and shipping for commercial tenants.
“We owe it to our children and to our grandchildren to phase out fossil fuel,” said Turner before touring the grid of mirrorlike panels. “We have to start doing the smart things, the right things, and stop doing the dumb things.” The solar panels are expected to cut carbon dioxide emissions by about 24,000 tons over the next 30 years, according to representatives of DT Solar, the company formed in a partnership between Turner and Dome-Tech Solar, a solar energy developer in Branchburg, N.J.
Turner, 68, whose net worth was estimated at $2 billion in 2005, is also a renowned philanthropist. He serves as chairman of the Turner Foundation, a private organization that awards grants for environmental and sustainable living projects. Turner declined to say how much he invested in DT Solar, but said it was “in the millions.”
Thomas Kuster, chief executive officer of Dome-Tech Solar, said the installation was part of a larger plan to foster solar power initiatives. “It’s a glimpse into the future,” he said of the $9 million project.
New Jersey is the fastest-growing solar energy market in the country, and one of the largest in terms of installations, said Jeanne Fox, president of the state Board of Public Utilities. It is outranked only by California, which has four times the population and energy use, she said. In five years, the state has gone from six solar installations to more than 2,000, Fox said. “It’s become a popular thing to do,” Fox said.
The South Plainfield installation is expected to receive more than $4.5 million in rebates from the state’s Clean Energy Program, which helps fund the creation of solar electric systems in homes, businesses and public organizations, Fox said. The panels generate direct current and channel it into an inverter, which converts the energy to alternating current and feeds it to the warehouses’ power outlets, said Bruce Curtis, Dome-Tech’s chief operating officer.
Curtis said that once in place, the panels would provide up to 10 percent of the buildings’ energy needs. The rest would come from conventional power lines, he said. Turner said solar energy is one of the most cost-effective and feasible alternatives to fossil fuel, which carry a heavy social and environmental burden. “This project is setting a great example,” Turner said. “I hope others will follow.”