new energy | for and about students and emerging solar professionals
Hill Creek Elementary School in Santee, Calif., a suburb of San Diego, has 10
new solar awnings to shade the lunch area,
with a total generating capacity of about
270 kilowatts. Built by Barnhart Balfour
Beatty ( balfourbeattyus.com) and Baker
Electric, the structures are expected to save
the school district more than $80,000 a year
in electricity costs. Using Siliken modules
( silikenusa.com) made in San Diego and
inverters from PV Powered (pvpowered.
com), the system is configured to produce
400,000 kilowatt-hours annually, covering
approximately 74 percent of the school’s
current need and 82 percent of its projected need after energy-efficiency upgrades
are completed. Under California’s performance incentive, the system will earn 43
cents per kilowatt-hour produced over the
first five years — roughly $860,000. The
project budget of $2.2 million includes the
cost of relocating playground equipment.
Upfront costs were covered by federal
clean-energy tax-credit bonds with below-market interest. ST
California School Gets 270-kW PV System
mIcheLLe reINer, barNhart baLfOur beatty
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10 November/December 2010 SOLAR TODAY solartoday.org
Copyright © 2010 by the American Solar Energy Society Inc. All rights reserved.
