Seashore Solar is developing an 11.3-megawatt solar array on top of a closed landfill in Egg Harbor Township, N.J.

Solar Power Inc. of California is designing and engineering the 42,000-solar-panel array.

“We have ample experience working on projects in brown field locations,” said SPI spokesman Mike Anderson.

He said the Egg Harbor project will be a 1.3-megawatt fixed and ground-mounted project that will not be on trackers.

Seashore will be selling the power wholesale to Norristown, Pa.-based PJM, which coordinates the movement of electricity for regional utilities.

Seashore announced in a press release that it planned to break ground on the solar installation in the first quarter of 2012.

Right now, it’s waiting for approval from the New Jersey state department of Environmental Protection to use the 48-acre Handson Avenue Landfill for the project.

Seashore has a 15-year lease agreement and two five-year extensions optional along with an option to buy from the landfill owner, the Delilah Road Associates.

“This will be a utility-scale system,” Anderson said. “A system this size, 11.3 megawatts, is definitely significant.”

He said SPI typically works on designing and engineering mid-range utility-scale projects like this one.

“This really fell right in our sweet spot,” he said.

Seashore said in a press release that it expects the project to take between nine and 15 months to complete and begin producing power for the grid.

The company has been active in the Southern New Jersey area and recently finished a 5-megawatt project for area schools. This will, however, be the company’s largest project to date.

New Jersey has the second most active solar market in the country with subsidies that cover about $230 per 1,000 kilowatts of installed solar. There is some speculation that the state legislature might pass something in this session that would require utilities to get an even higher percentage of their power from renewable sources, which would likely drive utility subsidies even higher.