Turtle Energy of Linden, N.J., formerly a subsidiary of Turtle and Hughes Inc., Linden, N.J., a Top 200 electrical distributor, recently completed a 6.1 MW solar installation using 24,934 PV panels manufactured by SolarWorld, Hillsboro, Ore., for the Lawrenceville School, a private boarding school in Lawrenceville, N.J. Turtle Energy was purchased in 2011 by KDC Solar, Bedminster, N.J.
According to a Solar World press release on the project, KDC Solar leased the land for the project from the school and owns and maintains all of the solar equipment. Through a power purchase agreement, the Lawrenceville School will buy electricity produced by the array over the next two decades.
The press release said the PV system, ground-mounted on 30 acres of school-owned farm land, is believed to be the largest installed at a U.S. primary or secondary school. It will generate enough electricity to offset 90 percent of the high school's annual power needs and provide a centerpiece to the school's holistic approach to environmental stewardship. The array is designed to produce approximately 9,264,000 kilowatt hours of solar electricity each year, enough to power the equivalent of more than 800 typical American homes, and to offset 6,388 metric tons of carbon-dioxide emissions annually, the equivalent of taking 1,253 cars off the road. The Lawrenceville School solar farm is also home to nearly 900,000 resident honey bees, nourished by a special wildflower mixture planted among and around the solar panels.