More Public Money for Large vs. Small NJ Solar Projects

The Star-Ledger is reporting that smaller NJ solar business-owners are getting squeezed by a focus on larger solar projects.

Small-scale projects and the local companies that install them may be in jeopardy, however, as government handouts for those operations are being reduced, according to energy experts.

In the last three years, the rate of new small-scale solar projects in the state has been slowing, dropping to 586 projects in 2007, from 717 in 2006, according to the state Board of Public Utilities. The numbers are on pace to drop again this year, with only 500 projects expected for the year, down from 645 last year, the BPU said.

"What's happening is that the BPU is headed toward the big projects," said Jeff Tittel, the director of the New Jersey chapter of the Sierra Club. "We shouldn't be patting ourselves on the back because we're No. 2 in the country in solar generation. We're starting to slip, and we need to move forward."