Nov 25, 2007 6:12 pm US/Pacific
Solano Co. Plans Public Solar Energy Project
FAIRFIELD (BCN) ―
A 746,000-watt solar array project will someday serve the energy needs at the Solano County jail and keep Fairfield school buses cool.
The 746-kilowatt solar array under construction by Honeywell International will reduce power costs at the Claybank Adult Detention Facility by $1 million over 20 years of the county's solar power agreement with Honeywell International, county officials say.
It will be located on an old missile magazine site near the jail and will also serve as a shade structure for the Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District's buses.
"We are taking a piece of land with limited development potential and converting it to provide cost effective green power to a critical county facility. That's doing the right thing in a smart business way," said Solano
County Supervisor John Vasquez.
The county estimates it will be harvesting one million watts of electrical energy from the sun when the solar array is completed late next year.
The county will purchase power from Honeywell International at a low fixed rate that reduces electricity costs at peak times.
The county will also receive half the Renewable Energy Credits generated by the project.
The costs are currently valued at $113,000 over the 20-year term but the true dollar value of offsetting greenhouse gas emissions is yet to be determined because the market in California is just developing, county officials say.
The energy produced from the project is expected to reduce the county's greenhouse gas emissions by 14,571 metric tons of carbon dioxide over 20 years.
Jason Campbell, the county's Facilities Manager, estimates that is equivalent to not burning 1.6 million gallons of gasoline or recycling 4,805 tons of waste destined for landfills.
The Claybank project is partially funded by incentives in Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's initiative to have 3,000 megawatts of new solar facilities installed on homes and businesses by 2017.
Solano County also has a 230,000-watt system on the roof of the Health and Social Services building on Beck Avenue and a 120,000-watt solar array on the parking structure of the County Government Center in downtown Fairfield.
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