PSEG Solar Source, a subsidiary of Newark, N.J.-based Public Service Electric and Gas Co. (PSE&G), is expanding its solar farm business with the purchase of a planned 25.2 MW solar project in Arizona for $75 million. Construction of the PSEG Queen Creek Solar Farm, to be developed by engineering procurement construction (EPC) contractor juwi solar Inc., Boulder, Colo., is expected to begin this month with completion slated in the third quarter.

Photo Courtesy of PSEG Solar Source

The farm at the Mars company, which makes candy including M&Ms, was PSEG Solar Source's first project.

The PSEG Queen Creek Solar Farm will use crystalline panels and a single-axis tracking system. PSEG will own the facility and juwi will perform operation and maintenance services.

This is the fourth solar project for PSEG Solar Source, which owns several solar farms including the Mars Solar Garden, a 2.2 MW, 18-acre farm located adjacent to the Mars Chocolate North America headquarters in Hackettstown, N.J. Started up in Nov. 2009, the Mars farm provides 2 MW of power during peak operating hours, the equivalent to about 20% of the plant’s peak energy consumption.

PSE&G, PSEG’s regulated gas and electric utility, owns 52 MW of solar in New Jersey, consisting of 18 solar farms including its four ground-mounted solar farms in Linden, Yardville, Edison, and Trenton. PSE&G also owns more than 150,000 pole attached solar panels and is building a 1 MW solar system on the roof of its Central Electric headquarters in Somerset and a 700 KW solar system at its Edison Training and Development Center facility.