Dec 3 2009
Real Goods Solar announced on 2 December, 2009 that it has signed a multi-site contract that focuses in designing and installing solar modules to generate electric power of 790kW. This will be utilized for four housing communities that include one in Richmond, CA and three in San Francisco.
A Power Purchase Agreement will help in financing the PV systems, so that solar generated power can be used without operational expenditure and upfront capital costs. The California Solar Initiative Multi-Family Affordable Solar Housing (MASH) Rebate Program and the San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom’s GoSolarSF solar energy incentive program have helped in reducing the upfront installation costs.
Residents in all the four communities are expected to receive electricity of 1,090,311 kWhrs (1.1MWhrs) through this multi-million dollar investment project. This will bring down the electricity rate in the future. The recently introduced Virtual Net Metering tariff will enable residents of these communities, and those from other common areas to share their cost savings and electricity.
John Schaeffer, Founder and President of Real Goods Solar, remarked that this project will create new jobs in the community and it will also provide the community with systems that will produce power at a low cost in the future. Schaeffer further stated that the company’s effort of providing suitable installation facilities and education on renewable energy will also be highlighted through this project. Almost 36 unemployed workers have now been given the task of installing these systems through the Solar Richmond workforce and San Francisco City Build training programs.
Source: http://www.realgoodssolar.com/