Major Achievement Toward Making All nine LACCD Colleges More Energy Independent

Apr 23 2008

Kyocera Solar, Inc. and East Los Angeles College (ELAC) today celebrated the inauguration of a colossal, 1.2 megawatt (MW) solar electric generating system at ELAC's Monterey Park campus.

As part of the Renewable Energy Plan of the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD), the project represents a major achievement toward the goal of making all nine LACCD colleges more energy independent. Officials “flipped the switch” on the new solar installation during today’s Earth Day celebration.

The complete solar electric generating system, designed and built by Chevron Energy Solutions, consists of approximately 6,000 Kyocera KC200 solar panels. It was made possible through a power purchase agreement with MMA Renewable Ventures, a comprehensive power solutions provider that owns, maintains and operates the system. ELAC simply agrees to purchase electricity at agreed-upon rates for the term of the power purchase agreement.

“The event we celebrated today demonstrates the viability of solar energy and the practicality of the industry’s latest solar-energy financing tool,” said Tom Dyer, vice president of marketing and government affairs at Kyocera Solar, Inc. “Power purchase agreements like the one ELAC has chosen promise to make solar electricity an indispensable contributor to California’s energy mix.”

Kyocera has a long history as a leader in environmental preservation and promoting sustainable growth by providing solar energy to the world. The company seeks to help offset the harmful effects created by traditional fossil-fuel-generated electricity one solar panel at a time. The newly installed 1.2 MW solar electric system at ELAC will assist in this effort to counteract damage caused by carbon dioxide (CO2), a suspected contributor to global warming; nitrous oxide, which has been linked to the destruction of the Earth’s ozone layer; and sulfur dioxide, the principal contributor to acid rain.

Trees offer a natural metric for measuring the environmental impact of solar-generated electricity — since both trees and solar modules can help reduce atmospheric CO2. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, reducing our reliance on fossil-fuel-generated electricity by one megawatt can have the same effect on the Earth’s environment as adding 18 acres of forest.(1)

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