Evergreen Valley College, Gilbane Building Company and SunPower Corp, today dedicated a 1.5-megawatt tracking solar power project at the Evergreen Valley College campus in San Jose, Calif.
The ground-mounted solar array is owned by the San Jose/Evergreen Community College District and was financed through local, voter-approved Measure G-2010 bond funds. Gilbane Building Company acted as the program and construction manager for the district, while SunPower designed and constructed the system. SunPower will continue to provide operations and maintenance over the next 15 years.
"This SunPower solar electric system is expected to generate the equivalent of one-third of the campus' electricity demand for the next 25 years, delivering over $12 million in savings," said Henry Yong, Evergreen Valley College president. "We're pleased to use the savings to enhance and enrich our programs, and to support the use of clean, renewable power in our community. We are prepared to use this installation as an opportunity for Evergreen Valley College to initiate programs that support renewable energy job creation, preparing the Valley for the future."
Evergreen Valley College's solar power system features the SunPower® T0 Tracker, which rotates high efficiency SunPower solar panels to follow the sun during the day, increasing energy capture by up to 25 percent over conventional fixed-tilt systems, while reducing land use requirements.
"Community college and school districts in California are seizing the opportunity to help the state meet its growing energy demand and renewable energy goals," said Howard Wenger, SunPower president, regions. "To date, SunPower has more than 50 megawatts of solar power installed or under construction at educational facilities throughout California, helping districts reduce electricity costs and increase savings to general funds. Evergreen Valley College understands the significant return on investment that SunPower systems deliver, and the added value of working with an experienced partner."
SunPower has designed and constructed solar power systems for educational customers in California including Mount Diablo Unified School District, San Ramon Valley Unified School District, Porterville Unified School District, Los Angeles Unified School District, Kern Community College District, University of California, Davis, and West Valley Community College District. SunPower is the leading manufacturer of residential and commercial installed systems in the United States and has more than 2.5 gigawatts of solar deployed globally.
Source: http://www.sunpowercorp.com