Princeton solar field construction to begin next week

Months of planning and permit-seeking will come to fruition next week when work begins on Princeton University’s solar collection field in West Windsor Township.

The field will sit on 27 acres of university property in the township, and is expected to generate 8 million kilowatt-hours of energy per year to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, the Daily Princetonian reports.

Eighty percent of the 16,500 panels will use GPS to track the sun throughout the day and optimize energy absorption, and faculty and students will be able to use data from their field for their research.

The project was able to move forward with the help of a federal grant, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act incentives and New Jersey’s Solar Renewable Energy Certificate Program.