Moorestown to Consider Bringing Solar Power to the Township

The township may is looking into the idea of bringing solar power to Moorestown, and council is looking to have a presentation from an expert on the issue make a presentation in May.

“I’d like to look into the idea of using the old landfills for solar fields,” Mayor Chris Chiacchio said during Monday night’s meeting at the high school. “If we want to do this, we need to start doing things now.”

Councilman Greg Newcomer has been a proponent of bringing solar energy to Moorestown. He spoke about a state program that allows a municipality to install solar panels in one part of the township and gain a credit for the whole town.

When Deputy Mayor Stacey Jordan cited the fire department’s inability to battle a fire at Dietz and Watson in Delanco due to the presence of solar panels, Newcomer pointed out that occurred at a time when solar energy was still new and it worked differently.

In that situation, the 7,000 solar panels posed a problem for the firefighters because of poor air quality and the threat of electrocution.

Newcomer said he supports the idea, but believes having an expert appear in May could be too soon.

“I’d be happy to see that happen, but I don’t know if May is a reasonable amount of time to get enough information,” Newcomer said, stating that all the various problems need to be tackled.

“We could just have an informational session because I have my concerns,” Jordan said.

“We’re far from the dotted line on solar,” Township Manager Scott Carew said. “The technology and the legislation are changing so rapidly. We have Sustainable Moorestown, they know all the facets of solar from both the technological and the economic standpoint, and we have several engineering firms. We can gauge their expertise.”

Council’s next two action meetings are scheduled for April 28 and May 12.