SunPower today said it has started the construction on 11.4 megawatts solar power project to power public facilities operated by the Santa Clara County in California.
The County will own the systems and renewable energy credits. SunPower will construct six systems at County facilities. The solar power project will be operational by the end of 2016. Green electricity generated by the systems could power more than 6,000 electric vehicles for 30 years.
Howard Wenger, president, business units at SunPower, said: “Solar makes sense for counties and municipalities today because it’s cost-competitive, fast to install, and supports sustainability goals.”
Santa Clara has already secured U.S. Department of Treasury clean renewable energy bonds (CREBs) to finance renewable energy projects. California’s net energy metering (NEM) and RES-BCT programs also helped make ownership of on-site solar power systems accessible for the county.
SunPower is installing ground-mounted solar power systems featuring SunPower solar panels at five of the county sites. The sixth installation will be a solar carport that generates emission-free solar power while providing needed shade.
SunPower has approximately 45 megawatts of commercial and public agency solar power systems operating or under contract in Santa Clara County. Other customers in California are Yolo County and the cities of San Francisco, Riverside and Ontario.