CAMDEN, N.J. — Chesapeake Energy Corp. said Wednesday it is bringing back the Chesan Light Craft — a $3,600,000 light craft made of aluminum and wood that can light up the sky over the bay — after a two-year experiment.
The $3 million project was one of several efforts underway at the Cheso Energy headquarters in the New Jersey city of Trenton to bring solar energy to the bay.
A second, larger project is in the works to make solar energy a viable way to power more homes.
Chesapeake said the Cheswan Light Craft was the largest project in its history, and its return to the Chesko campus was intended to allow employees to participate in the process.
It will be the company’s first-ever return to New Jersey after moving from Florida in 2012.
It is a move that comes after the company announced in April that it had signed a new lease with the city of New York that includes the possibility of bringing solar power back to the New York City metro area in the future.
Cheso, which operates more than 1,000 residential and commercial buildings across the country, will keep its operations in the bay for two years to allow for the process of restoring the facility and then moving on to its next phase, which is solar energy.
It also said it will continue to offer other programs for employees to support their solar projects, including a solar scholarship program.
In September, the company signed a deal with the City of New Jersey to use the site as a pilot project for a new solar park, a $1.3 billion project in the middle of the city’s skyline that will offer solar energy for commercial and residential buildings.
It said the solar park will be located in the borough’s Downtown Crossing.
Chesco will use the park for training and training students to work on its solar projects.
In its statement, Cheso said the move to the campus will allow the company to provide training on a large scale and for students to participate.
It says the program will be designed to create opportunities for those who have not been trained to work with solar energy, including students from schools across the city.
The company said it also plans to bring its “greenhouse energy” project back to Trenton in 2019.
Cheson said it expects to make a profit on the $1 million it is investing in the project.
The energy produced by the Cheson project will be sold to local businesses and other businesses in the community, as well as the company, for use in its energy projects.