Solar Energy Farm for Crayola Crayons

Solar Energy Farm for Crayola Crayons

On November 19, executives from Binney and Smith, also known as Crayola to millions of youngsters worldwide, broke ground on a 15-acre solar farm in Forks Township, Pennsylvania.

Crayola, known the world around for its multicolored array of wax pencils, known as crayons, was founded in 1885 and now makes 120 different colors to amuse children and adults. The concept is old; the solar farm, which is expected to begin producing electricity early in 2010, is new but reflective of the company’s commitment to environmental stewardship, according to Executive Vice President Peter Ruggiero.

The 15 acres, owned by Crayola, are being leased by Allentown-based PPL Corp., an energy and energy services provider with about 12,000 megawatts of generating capacity and operations worldwide, and Reading-based UGI Energy Services, a natural gas and electric utility subsidiary of UGI Corporation.

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The land borders Plainfield Township, and the two energy companies will foot the bill for the solar farm’s design and build-out, as well as the farm’s operation over time. The panels themselves are being installed by Perrysburg, Ohio-based First Solar, a thin-film manufacturing firm with a solid reputation for quality which recently broke the -per-watt manufacturing barrier.

When completed, the 26,000-panel farm will deliver 1.9 megawatts of clean, renewable solar energy and will be, according to the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection’s John Hanger, one of the largest installations in the state.

The solar farm will provide about 10 percent of the Crayola factory’s annual electricity usage under a power purchase agreement with the utilities, and will prevent about 1,900 tons of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide per year – all of which are produced by generating electricity with fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas. The output, 1.9 megawatts, is enough to power about 1,500 average American homes.

This, according to calculations by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, is the same as removing 325 cars from the road, reducing gasoline consumption by 200,000 gallons, or planting 400 acres of pine forest.

Funding for the project, via the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, or ARRA, provided .5 million in grant money, with an estimated .5 million in matching funds from private sources.

Energy production, usage and other data for the solar farm will be made available through a solar energy display at the Crayola Factory in downtown Easton.