[Image: Tyler State Park Manager Phil Schmidt stands by part of a solar array going up on the Newtown Township side of the park.]
A large ground-mounted solar array going up near the park headquarters building on the Newtown Township side will fairly soon provide most of the electricity needed at the 1,700-acre park that stretches over Newtown Township, Northampton Township and a small part of Wrightstown Township, Park Manager Phil Schmidt said.
And it will be a big money saver, he added. Once completed and connected to the PECO grid, the solar array will reduce yearly electric costs at the park from about $17,500 a year down to $1,500, Schmidt estimated.
The solar project at Tyler consists of 270 solar panels about three by six feet each, attached together to make six large rectangular pieces, with three of 50 panels and three of 40 panels.
In addition to the savings, there will be environmental benefits as well, he continued.
“With climate change, we’re just going to have to work on getting away from fossil fuels as much as possible,” Schmidt said. “Since state parks are run by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, we should be spearheading some initiatives. It’s something we should be doing, and I’m glad we are.”
The $377,000 cost of the Tyler array is part of a larger contract awarded to Spotts Brothers to install solar at Nockamixon State Park – which like Tyler is in Bucks County – Evansburg State Park and the Jacobsburg Environmental Education Center in Nazareth. All are in the DCNR’s Southeast Region. Money for the installations is coming from Pennsylvania’s Growing Greener grant program, Schmidt noted.
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