Honeywell Building Solutions, an international provider of energy-efficient systems, has been awarded a contract to install, own and maintain solar panels on seven district buildings of the Pleasanton Unified School District in the San Francisco Bay area.
Under the agreement, Honeywell will sell the electricity the panels produce to the district at a price significantly below its current utility rate. According to the company, the panels are expected to supply 20% of the district's electricity and save it an estimated $2.5 million in energy costs over the course of the 20-year contract.
‘This is one of the first projects in California, and quite possibly the entire nation, where the contractor operates as the utility for a K-12 school district,’ says Brett Illers, chief operating officer at Information and Energy Services Inc., an energy management consultant for the district. ‘Honeywell has taken an innovative step to help a school district with an inflexible budget lower its energy costs without requiring it to make an up-front capital investment or handle ongoing maintenance.’
After the agreement expires, the school district can continue purchasing electricity from Honeywell, acquire ownership of the solar panels or explore other energy providers. The company expects to begin providing the district with electricity from the solar panels by October of 2007.
