However, telephone poles may be playing a greater role in the coming years when it comes to distributed solar plans that generate large amounts of energy with help from existing structures. This allows companies to avoid the costs and regulatory burdens that come with having to acquire new parcels of land for such projects.
In a recent announcement, Petra Solar, a New Jersey company, reported that its SunWave solar photovoltaic systems will be tested by the Tampa Electric Company. The systems are geared to work with the smart grid technology that is expected to become more common in the near future.
Petra's photovoltaic systems are installed on poles at a test facility owned by Tampa Electric, which serves about 667,000 customers in Central Florida.
The solar company reports that it is working more than 40 other utility companies nationwide while also fulfilling a $200 million contract with New Jersey's largest utility to install the systems on about 200,000 streetlight poles. When completed in 2012, that project is expected to provide 40 megawatts of clean energy to New Jersey residents.
