Amazon Installs Solar Panels On Carteret Warehouse

CARTERET, NJ — Amazon just unveiled 30 acres of solar panels it installed on the roof of its warehouse in Carteret. New Jersey is a distribution hub for Amazon, which has several warehouses in the state, but the Carteret warehouse is their biggest, at one million square feet with 3,000 employees.

Amazon unveiled its rooftop solar installation Tuesday, and released these photos to Patch. At its peak — such as during a sunny summer day — the solar panels in Carteret can create 7.5 megawatts, which supplies enough energy for 80 percent of the warehouse's power needs, according to MyCentralJersey.

Amazon claims it's the largest solar installation in the state, but solar panels at a South Jersey marine terminal are actually more powerful: In 2012, Gloucester Marine Terminal unveiled solar panels on top of its 1.1 million-square-foot refrigerated warehouse in Gloucester City. It has nameplate capacity in excess of 9 megawatts. While Amazon officials declined yesterday to reveal the cost of the project, financing for solar at Gloucester Marine Terminal was about $42 million.

The panels were installed by multiple companies, including Sol Systems and IGS Solar. The state of New Jersey and federal government give tax breaks to companies like Amazon if they install solar panels.

U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J. 6th District), whose district includes Carteret, was at the warehouse yesterday and praised the tax credits, saying they are necessary to get solar power up and running.

"I've always been a big advocate that the federal and state government need to continue to provide those types of incentives. Otherwise, the companies won't do it," he said, according to MyCentralJersey. "Eventually, we won't need to do those things because the price of everything will come down as more solar panels are produced."

He also said jobs can be created installing solar panels.

"We've been getting all these extreme weather events, so we need to cut back on greenhouse gases, which are produced by burning oil and natural gas," said Rep. Pallone. "It's going to make a big difference in terms of cutting back on fossil fuel use and moving toward a sustainable energy future."

Photos supplied by Amazon/Jaffe Communications

Correction: Patch originally said Amazon's Carteret solar installation was the largest in New Jersey, but a Patch reader said the Gloucester Marine Terminal is bigger. The financing, $42 million, was supplied by Rabobank.