Short Hills Mall Gets Greener With Solar-Powered Parking Deck

SHORT HILLS, NJ - A 3.49 megawatt roof and parking deck solar power system at The Mall at Short Hills has been installed by Safari Energy and will significantly reduce the shopping center's carbon footprint.

“Safari Energy is helping The Mall at Short Hills extend its green footprint in New Jersey, a state that is increasingly pursuing solar in its resource mix going forward. We are pleased to be working with Taubman to bring the company closer to its sustainability goals,” said Andy Rubin, senior vice president, Sales & Marketing, Safari Energy.

The nearly 9,000 solar panels span 225,500 square feet of the mall’s roof and five parking decks. The system will produce 4.2 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of clean, renewable energy each year for the 1.4 million square foot center. This is the equivalent of offsetting more than 1,900 tons of CO2 emissions annually, officials said.

“The Mall at Short Hills solar power system is the first of three solar projects we are implementing to increase our use of renewable energy over the next few years,” said Steven Moore, director of Facilities, Energy and Sustainability for Taubman, the company that owns the mall. “Safari Energy has been a great partner in helping us get closer to our renewable energy goals.”

Safari Energy has developed solar power systems for 15 malls and 66 commercial-scale solar projects across the state. In May 2018 Governor Phil Murphy signed a bill to increase the state’s solar target to match those of New York and California. The bill enables community solar projects and increase the deployment of energy storage.

Since 2008, Safari Energy’s solar power projects have generated nearly 300 million kWh of electricity, or the equivalent of reducing more than 200,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions, the CO2 emitted from 500 million miles driven by passenger vehicles or charging 26 billion smartphones.

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