Butte College, located in Oroville, Calif., has completed three new solar projects that are intended to help the college achieve its goal of becoming a carbon-neutral campus by 2015. With these newest projects, 44% of the campus will be powered through solar energy, making the college the largest solar-producing campus in the state, Butte College says.
This recent addition of three solar arrays, using 185 W Mitsubish Electric modules totaling 450 kW DC at three separate areas on the campus, will produce an estimated 675,000 kWh of solar electricity annually and power 10 campus buildings. In 2005, the college installed its first 1.06 MW DC solar system, which included 5,700 solar panels on a four-acre field. With the college's combined solar projects, the total projected energy generation is 2.7 million kWh each year.
The total cost for the college's latest three projects was $3.42 million. Pacific Gas & Electric Co.'s California Solar Initiative provided a $700,000 rebate check. The financing for the project was made possible by Bank of America, through its 10-year, $20 billion environmental initiative to address climate change.
SOURCE: Butte College
