Dec. 5—SCRANTON — The Electric City could soon get its first solar farm that generates electricity.
A Massachusetts-based company, ECA Solar, plans to build a large-scale solar array with 12,000 panels on a 73-acre tract on West Mountain.
Solar farms generally consist of many solar panels situated in sets of rows that convert the sun's rays into electricity.
ECA Solar seeks city zoning approval to construct the array on land in the rear 800 block of North Keyser Avenue off Graham Street, according to a public notice in The Times-Tribune. The zoning board hearing will be held Dec. 14 at 6 p.m. at City Hall.
While some residents in Scranton have installed solar panels on their homes, the ECA Solar project would be the first commercial solar venture in the city, city Planner Don King said.
The project called Electric City Solar Initiative would cost nearly $9 million to construct and produce 4.35 megawatts of electricity a year, according to plans submitted to the city.
Other details of the proposal include:
—The array would contain three sections of panels situated on 36 acres of the 73-acre tract and within buffer areas of woods.
—The solar farm would contain 12,064 black or dark blue solar panels, each about the size of a door, fixed in place and tilted upward at a 25-degree angle.
—Capacity of 4.35 megawatts a year is equivalent to powering about 600 to 700 homes.
—There would be three, 10-feet-by-20-feet concrete pads for electrical equipment, 10 utility poles and an 8-feet-tall fence around the array and equipment areas. The fence would be knot-wire, similar to those used on orchards and agricultural farms that allow for small wildlife passage but keep people out.
—A driveway to access the site would be constructed from the end of Graham Street.
—PPL would purchase the power generated. ECA also "is working with several (unspecified) businesses and academic institutions to serve as offtakers (consumers) of the power," the application says.
—The firm also needs to obtain a permit from the state Department of Environmental Protection regarding stormwater and erosion controls.
—The firm would construct solar panels on raised tables that allow grass to grow underneath. The fenced-in area would be planted with a grass mix and meadow-type pollinators, and mowed once or twice a year.
—The impervious surfaces would total 1.1 acres, while the solar panel array area would comprise 8 acres.
—Traffic would be minimal, including for quarterly checks and lawn and buffer maintenance of no more than one-to-two vehicles at a time.
Meanwhile, ECA Solar also plans to construct solar farms in two other locations in Lackawanna County, including on the Eynon Jermyn Road in Archbald and on Chapman Lake Road in Scott Twp.
The firm has received all necessary approvals in Scott Twp. but has not yet presented plans in Archbald, said ECA Solar Development Manager Martha Diezemann.
ECA's consumer clients for these two solar arrays include Valley View School District for the Archbald project and Lakeland School District for the Scott Twp. facility, Diezemann said. The clients expect to see savings on electricity over their 25-30 year contracts.
"We find properties near (electrical) substations that we're confident have the capacity to host a solar array of the size that we want," Diezemann said.
In Scranton's case, the 73-acre tract was near PPL facilities on West Mountain and went up for sale, and ECA Solar bought the land for $135,000 in September 2021.
"It was a win-win" situation, she said.
The firm hopes to start construction on each of the solar farms in Archbald, Scott Twp. and Scranton in the spring and complete each one in about six months, Diezemann said.
"That's the goal," she said.
The solar farm ventures also reflect growth in the solar industry in the state.
Through the third quarter of 2022, 0.43% of Pennsylvania's electricity came from the sun, with a total of 955 megawatts of solar generation installed — enough to power 115,177 homes, all up from the prior quarter, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association, a national trade organization for the solar industry.
Pennsylvania ranks 23rd in solar power in the country, up from 28th in 2021, according to the SEIA. It also projects a 430% increase in total megawatts of solar generation over the next five years.
emailto:Contact the writer: jlockwood@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9100 x5185; @jlockwoodTT on Twitter.
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