Solar power in Northeastern Pennsylvania

For a decade I have been talking about the idea of installing solar panels on the roofs (and parking lots) of shopping malls. For the most part that hasn't happened. Northeastern Pennsylvania gets about as much incident sunlight as Germany, a country that has made a major commitment to solar energy. But locally, high installation and material costs and relatively low electricity costs have kept solar from being a compelling alternative for most property owners.

Most...but not all.

A few years I was viewing satellite images of Northeastern Pennsylvania (as I routinely do) and I came across something interesting: the Gateway Shopping Center, a relatively minor strip mall in Edwardsville (directly across from the sadly moribund West Side Shopping Center, once a major shopping mall), had a roof covered with solar panels.

This was a decision made by property owner (and former racecar driver) Joe Amato at the time he purchased the shopping center. The panels generate electricity used to light the parking lot and the canopy over the stores. The project was featured on WNEP's Power to Save back in July of 2014.

On the other side of the Susquehanna, A. Rifkin, a manufacturer of secure reusable fabric money bags located off the Sans Souci Parkway between Nanticoke and Wilkes-Barre, also has a roof covered with solar panels - providing an annual electrical savings of $16,000, according to the Keystone Energy website.

Are there other solar projects dotted around Northeastern Pennsylvania? I will continue to keep an eye open - even if it is a satellite eye.