Representatives for the West Windsor–Plainsboro Regional School District presented two courtesy reviews for solar carport installations on Feb. 19: a roughly 952-kilowatt carport at West Windsor–Plainsboro High School South and a roughly 270-kilowatt carport at Morris Hawk School. Brandon Kroger, attorney for the school district, introduced engineers from FWH Associates and GreenSky Energy, who described design, clearance and maintenance considerations.

"This is essentially a 952 kilowatt solar carport system within the existing parking lot," attorney Brandon Kroger said of the High School South proposal. Project engineer Chris Rosati (FWH Associates) explained the arrays are metered (net-metered) systems without battery storage; at times excess production could exceed on-site demand but the arrays are not intended to provide long-term storage.

Rosati gave technical details: typical modules are about 7 feet by 4 feet; carport columns will be located at stall heads and supported on concrete sonotube foundations (applicant’s plan calls for conservative 3-foot-diameter foundations); minimum clear height is 13 feet 6 inches to allow emergency and bus access; maximum canopy heights were described as roughly 16 feet at the high school and about 19 feet at the other site due to array tilt.

The applicants said there will be no additional impervious surface — canopies will be constructed over existing parking stalls — and that lighting will be mounted under the canopies with attention to minimizing spill to neighboring residences. The team noted three trees at the high-school site will need removal because they shade the array location; they proposed replacement plantings and additional screening as part of the landscape plan.

Board professionals raised technical comments: staff asked the applicant to confirm lighting levels and consider dimming schedules; the traffic reviewer asked for coordination on transformer and conduit locations to avoid underground infrastructure conflicts; and the planning/landscape reviewer recommended species diversity for screen plantings and replacing failing screening trees.

On operations and lifecycle, the applicant said systems will include telemetry for minute-by-minute performance monitoring, an initial monthly maintenance schedule that shifts to quarterly checks, and an expected useful life of about 25–30 years, after which panels commonly operate at reduced efficiency and may be repurposed or recycled.

What happens next: this night’s review was courtesy-only and not a formal board vote. Applicants said they will address the professionals’ review comments, prepare building-permit-level structural and electrical designs, coordinate staging and construction (planned for summer), and obtain any required permits.