By LINDSAY WEBER |The Morning Call

Lehigh University has begun construction on a 20-acre solar farm that will bring 7,400 solar panels to the school’s Murray H. Goodman campus in Bethlehem.

According to Emily Collins, a Lehigh University spokesperson, the project will supply 100% of the electricity needs of the Goodman campus, which is home to the university’s athletic facilities.

The site for the solar array, just south of Legacy Park and opposite the Lewis Indoor Tennis Center, was chosen relative to existing power infrastructure. Landscaping will be planted between the field and the nearest residential community to help block the view of the array. The project will supply 100% of the electricity for the Goodman Campus, and offset 8% of Lehigh’s grid electricity consumption. The array also will provide research and learning opportunities for students.

The solar farm, which the Bethlehem Planning Commission approved in a 3-1 vote last year, was opposed by several residents of Saucon Fields Condominiums, which overlooks the solar farm’s location on 124 Goodman Drive. Residents said the solar panels would cause glare to reflect into their homes and diminish their property values.

Representatives for the university said that a “glare analysis” found that glare would not be a significant hazard, and the school is constructing a berm, or raised barrier of land, with trees on the border between the two properties.

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