Conserving Energy & Making a Difference – Solar Panels
Just 93 million miles outside the City of Watsonville there is a source of totally free energy. Every day the sun bathes each square yard of our planet with 3,440 million, trillion photons of light. Those photons are packed full of energy. In 2011, Public Works staff decided it was time the City took advantage of this amazing energy resource. Using $3 million from a Federal New Clean Renewable Energy Bond, the City has begun installing solar panels at three city facilities. Solar panels already cover the roof of the old City Hall. More panels will be installed at the corporation yard on Harvest Drive and at the water recycling facility off West Beach Street. By July of this year the City will be generating over 850,000 kWh of solar energy. During the first year alone, the project is expected to reduce the city’s energy costs by $292,000. Over their 25 year lifespan, the panels are expected to save the city almost $4 million. Those little photons really add up to big bucks!
This along with the Energy Efficient Street Lighting Project and the Reduction in Energy Usage Project will make a difference. A quick tally shows that this project along with the Energy Efficient Street Lighting and the Reduction in Energy Usage Project will reduce the City’s carbon footprint by almost 1,400 tons/year. That’s 20% of the City’s total carbon footprint. So not only do we help save the City money, we also help save the planet!
Solar Panels installed at the Water Resources Center located at 500 Clearwater Lane.
This entry was posted on Monday, June 18th, 2012 at 3:33 pm and is filed under City of Watsonville, Public Works . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.