San Jose's Central Service Yard, which houses the Department of General Services and a part of the Department of Public Works, a three-story building and six warehouses now hosts a 1.24 MW solar power production facility.
The solar facility is located over 22 acres of land area that extends from South 10th Street to Senter Road. The solar installation, completed by DRI Energy, has been activated by Chuck Reed who is the Mayor of the City of San Jose.
The solar facility consists of over 5,300 PV solar panels that are erected over the new parking shelters constructed at the Central Service Yard of the city. The installations are expected to produce over 1.8 million kWh of power in the first year and over 33 million kWh of clean power in a period of 20 years. The City will utilize the power generated from the grid to meet demand for the facility.
DRI Energy has designed and installed the solar system without the need for the city to invest on the project. The City of San Jose will buy the power generated from the solar facility under a long-term power purchase accord at pre-fixed prices for duration of 20 years.
During the period of 20 years, the solar installation will generate enough power to supply electricity to 3,100 normal US homes for a whole year. The power generated by the system will offset nearly 35 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions which can be equated to the removal of around 3,400 cars off the roads for a year.
Source: http://www.sanjoseca.gov/