PSE&G Solar Farm a Go

A former farm field on Jessup Road will soon be home to a different sort of farm, as PSE&G’s proposed solar array scored its final site plan approval at West Deptford’s zoning board meeting Tuesday.

The final version of the plan was a departure from what ; instead of the original, 859-kilowatt array, the power company submitted a version scaled back about 15 percent to 719 kilowatts on a smaller footprint.

That change came despite an assertion last month by PSE&G attorney Kevin Moore that .

Though PSE&G came with their full arsenal of experts to present the revised plan, they ended up only needing engineer Jennifer Schwenker and her overview of the project.

Schwenker outlined the major changes: the reduced size of the array, a fire access road around the perimeter and an increased buffer of trees and shrubs to conceal the solar panels from passers-by and residents along Jessup Road.

And for aesthetics’ sake, the picturesque split-rail fence that borders the property along Jessup Road will stay.

It was enough to convince the board that the plan was better put together than at last month’s meeting, where PSE&G’s presentation fell apart in short order, when the board raised numerous questions that had no concrete answers.

Zoning board planner Jay Petrongolo praised PSE&G for listening to the board’s recommendations.

“They’ve really made some significant improvements,” he said.

The approved solar array is part of the company's push to place 80 megawatts of solar power in New Jersey.