News
Menendez Announces $6 Million For Major NJ Solar Power Projects
2 NJ companies among 5 companies nationwide receiving federal investments
to facilitate generation and use of solar power
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) today announced that two New Jersey companies will receive almost $6 million total from the U.S. Department of Energy for major solar power projects:
- Petra Solar of South Plainfield will receive up to $2.9 million. The company will work with the University of Central Florida (Orlando, FL) and Fifteen Electric Utilities with service in NJ, PA, OH, DE, MD, DC, FL, TX: This project complements the mission of the Solar Program to achieve the widespread adoption of solar energies. It supports improving reliability and resiliency so that high levels of PV integration can be adapted.
- Princeton Power of Princeton will receive up to $2.8 million. The company will work with Transistor Device Inc (TDI), LaGuardia Community College (New York, NY), Idyllwild Municipal Water District (San Diego, CA), National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (Princeton, NJ), Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (Princeton, NJ), Premier Power, SPG Solar (Novato, CA), and Spire (Bedford, MA). This project focuses on lowering manufacturing costs through integrated controls for energy storage and develops new inverter designs.
"Our state has always been at the leading edge of innovation, and today, we are at the leading edge of the solar power boom," said Menendez. "Solar power is a clean alternative with the potential to lower the price of energy, create new jobs and clean the air we breathe. It's a key part of our economic recovery and will help lay the foundation for economic security in the 21st Century. This is also an important investment for our environment, and I am please that New Jersey companies were chosen to help lead the way."
The federal funding announced today was given to projects designed to advance the next stage of development of solar energy grid integration systems (SEGIS). Initiated in 2008, the SEGIS activity is a partnership that includes DOE, Sandia National Laboratories, industry, utilities, and universities and emphasizes complete system development. The selected projects focus on the most promising technology advances and include development of intelligent system controls. These projects ultimately seek to maintain or improve power quality and reliability, as well as return economic value, while increasing integration of solar technologies into the U.S. electrical grid.