October 27, 2008—Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently announced that California has partnered with SunEdison to provide affordable solar power at 15 California State University (CSU) campuses and the CSU executive office. The innovative public-private partnership is designed to protect the environment by providing a zero-emission 8 megawatt (MW) solar photovoltaic power system to the university campuses.
The 8 MW of energy produced by the solar panels are expected to deliver approximately 12 million kilowatt hours of clean renewable energy in the first year of operation. This amount of solar generated electricity represents five percent of the entire CSU system’s yearly energy consumption. Over the life of the contract, the partnership will offset approximately 9,485 metric tons of carbon dioxide, which is reportedly the equivalent of removing 48,937 cars from the road.
New SunEdison solar panels will be installed on rooftops, atop parking canopies, and in ground-mounted arrays at the following locations: CA Maritime Academy, Vallejo; CSU Bakersfield; CSU Channel Islands; CSU Chico; CSU Fullerton; CSU Humboldt; CSU Los Angeles; CSU Monterey Bay; CSU Pomona (Cal Poly); CSU Sacramento; CSU San Bernardino; CSU San Bernardino (Palm Desert): CSU San Francisco; CSU San Marcos; CSU Stanislaus; and the CSU Office of the Chancellor, Long Beach.
The CA Department of General Services (DGS) negotiated the alternative financing method known as a power-purchase agreement for CSU. The agreement allows CSU to buy renewable power at or below current retail rates while avoiding the cost of installing the system. Under this agreement, SunEdison will finance, build, and operate the solar panels for 20 years. The purchase agreement should yield a total of approximately 20 MW of new renewable energy for the state.
Other initiatives are currently underway to provide 7 MW of solar power at five CA state prison sites and three state mental hospitals, and 4.2 MW of solar power have already been deployed at eight other state facilities through purchase agreements. DGS recently launched an online database identifying where solar panels, fuel cells, wind turbines, and other green energy technologies are generating renewable power at state office buildings, prisons, hospitals, and college campuses.
