Did you know New Jersey has the tallest water tower in the world?  And that Newark is the car-theft capital of America?  Even if you didn’t already know these tidbits of Jersey trivia–I bet you’re not surprised.  But how about this:  New Jersey is #2 nationwide for installed solar power, second only to California?  And the Garden State is about to up the ante.

The biggest utility in New Jersey–Public Service Electric and Gas (PSEG) has announced it is sinking three-quarters of a billion dollars into a huge solar power project.  But this isn’t a single massive array of PV panels.  Instead, PSEG is planning on installing single solar panels on hundreds of thousands of utility polls around the state.  The company is also leasing space on government buildings and looking to install panels over old landfills.  All told, the project will generate about 120 megawatts of clean energy–helping New Jersey on the way toward meeting its goal of getting 22.5% of it’s energy from renewable sources by 2020.

One interesting aspect to this story is where PSEG is going to get the money to bankroll the project:

The bulk of the money for the project, however, would come from newbonds and equity from Public Service Enterprise. Mr. Izzo said he did not expect his utility to have difficulty issuing bonds in the shaky debt markets, and added that the price of installing the panels — about $6.44 for each watt produced — was far lower than just a few years ago.

Even with today’s grim economic climate, apparently solar power still seems like a good investment.  And the piece-by-piece nature of this project means the utility starts generating power (and a return on their investment) from day one.  Compare that to a coal fired power plant that uses up billions of dollars for years before it produces a single watt of electricity.

The company will be taking advantage of federal tax credits, and a modest 10-35 cents a month surcharge on customers electric bills.

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