Last week I went to the Atlantic County Utilities Authority (ACUA) Wind Farm in Atlantic City, NJ. The reason I was there was for work. We are performing an energy audit for them to help them reduce their energy consumption. The ACUA is actually a wastewater treatment facility that has installed 5 wind turbines and multiple solar panels throughout their property.

As we were driving into Atlantic City, I could see the turbines in the distance. It was a pretty awesome view since I had never seen one in real life before. They didn’t appear to be that big from far away, but once we got a little closer I could truly see their large size. Each tower is 80 meters tall which is about 262 feet and the blades are 120 feet. So the highest point on the wind turbine is 380 feet, which is like a 35 story building. They produce enough energy to power about 2,500 homes!

You might think that something this big would make a lot of noise. In reality, I couldn’t hear them until I was standing almost next to them. Even then the sound was a quiet “swoosh, swoosh, swoosh” as the blades turned.

They also have installed solar panels on their property using 3 different methods:

• They have an area of solar panels that are sitting on the ground
• They have solar panels that are mounted on the roofs of some of the buildings
• They have a solar panel canopy over the parking lot

The canopy method is definitely the coolest technique because it uses wasted space above the parking lot. They have an electric car that can plug into the canopy and charge while it’s parked.  Imagine driving your electric car to work, plugging it in to charge, and driving home without spending a penny on fuel or harming the environment!

The people at the ACUA are very environmentally aware and are taking steps in the right direction. Hopefully people will see the success they are having and take the initiative to do it themselves.

You can check out the ACUA website for more information.