The City of Hoboken announces this Earth Week, that the Hoboken Community Solar Program, in partnership with the Hoboken Housing Authority (HHA), has launched and is now fully operational, and expected to reduce emissions by approximately 3,000 metric tons of Carbon Dioxide equivalent (CO2e) a year. Six hundred twenty-two households in Andrew Jackson Gardens, Adams Gardens, and Christopher Columbus are now 100 percent solar powered.
“The Hoboken Community Solar Program is a critical step towards environmental justice and sustainability, providing solar energy to low-moderate income families within the Hoboken Housing Authority,” said Mayor Ravi S. Bhalla. “This program is the latest way we as a community are coming together to take climate action, mitigate our impact on the environment, and ensure that we are better prepared to combat the escalating impacts of climate change.”
The Elizabeth-based solar facility, which generates solar energy for Hoboken, came on-line in January, providing discounted clean solar energy to the three HHA properties. The program, part of the City’s Climate Action Plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, is estimated to generate 4,300 mw/h of solar energy annually which will directly benefit low- and moderate-income residents, who often cannot install solar on their own roofs.
The program demonstrates Hoboken’s dedication to combating climate change and advancing renewable energy initiatives. According to the EPA, the estimated reduction of 3,000 metric tons of CO2e, is equivalent to:
- Greenhouse gas emissions from 715 gasoline-powered passenger vehicles driven for one year.
- CO2 emissions from 338,015 gallons of gasoline consumed.
- Greenhouse gas emissions avoided by 130,479 trash bags of waste recycled instead of landfilled.
The program will also provide savings on the Hoboken Housing Authority’s energy bills. Those savings will be deposited into a Community Solar Fund to go toward energy and/or sustainability projects or services that will directly benefit the HHA community. HHA residents and administrators will be key in the decision-making process to utilize and distribute the funds.
Later this year, the City of Hoboken plans to launch a second community solar program to provide similar cost saving benefits to approximately 700 additional low- and moderate-income residents throughout Hoboken.
The Community Solar Program comes at no cost to Hoboken taxpayers through a partnership with the HHA, Hartz Solar, Gabel Associates, and non-profit Solar One.
As part of the Community Solar Program, 10 HHA residents participated in a free Green Workforce Training Program with Solar One, and four were ultimately hired by Solar Energy Systems, the project’s solar installer.
The program follows the City’s implementation of the Hoboken Renewable Energy Program which allows residents to get more of their power from renewable sources. Since the program’s inception in 2021, residents have saved over $650,000 on their energy bills and reduced CO2e emissions by 31,254 metric tons.
For more information on the Hoboken Community Solar Program, please visit https://www.hobokennj.gov/resources/community-solar.
