Crayola, the maker of children’s art and stationery products, plans to make 1 billion crayons next year with power from the sun.

The company recently signed an agreement with PPL Corp. of Allentown and UGI Energy Services Inc., of Reading, to build a state-of-the-art 15-acre solar panel park at the Crayola facility in Forks Township, Northampton County. Construction is expected to begin in October with a portion of the park generating electricity by early 2010.

More than 26,000 fixed photovoltaic solar panels installed on Crayola’s property will convert sunlight into electricity, generating 1.5 megawatts of electrical power. The solar facility will provide 10 percent of Crayola’s total annual energy consumption and about a third of the energy required to make 3 billion crayons annually. Generating the same amount of electricity with fossil fuels would produce about 1,900 tons of greenhouse gases per year.

“This is a great partnership of local companies working together to provide alternate sources of energy and help Crayola provide ‘greener’ products to our consumers,” said Pete Ruggiero,

executive vice president of Global Operations, Crayola. “Crayola believes it’s especially important to ensure today’s kids have a healthy environment for their creative tomorrows ~ and thanks to PPL and UGI, we’re one step closer to making that a reality.”

As part of the agreement, PPL and UGI will lease 15 acres of property adjacent to Crayola’s manufacturing facility and provide the funding and resources to design, build and operate the park. Crayola has agreed to purchase the generated power. PPL and UGI will share the renewable energy credits provided by Pennsylvania to the developers and operators of environmentally sustainable projects that provide new renewable energy.

“Having successfully developed solar energy projects in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, PPL is very excited to partner with Crayola to continue efforts to increase the amount of green, renewable energy available in the region,” said Steve Gabrielle, director of renewable energy for PPL. “By harnessing sunlight and converting it into clean, affordable electricity this solar project will benefit Crayola, its consumers and our community.”

“This joint project will have a great impact on Crayola, its consumers and the greater community, demonstrating that alternate energy sources can be jointly developed to protect our environment and conserves our natural resources,” said Matt Dutzman, vice president, UGI Energy Services.

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania provided a $1.5 million grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act or Stimulus Act to fund a portion of the solar park.

"The Stimulus Act funding powers along with the sun and Crayola crayons, creates jobs right now to build this large solar facility, protects the jobs already at Crayola, and produces pollution-free electricity for years to come,” said John Hanger, secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection. “The future of both Crayola and solar power is as bright as the sun."

As part of the project, a solar energy educational display will be developed at The Crayola Factory in downtown Easton, which attracts nearly 300,000 visitors annually. The exhibit will showcase the accomplishments of the solar partnership and demonstrate solar energy’s potential in Pennsylvania.