Installation to meet nearly half of district’s electrical needs
Cupertino Electric, Inc.’s (CEI) Energy Alternatives Division and the Mountain View Los Altos High School District recently announced at a formal Earth Day dedication ceremony that construction is substantially complete on a district-wide 1.26MW solar photovoltaic (PV) system. The system is mounted on parking lot canopies at the Mountain View and Los Altos High School campuses, was designed and built by CEI, and was funded by a local bond measure.
“With the Cupertino Electric-designed solar system and recent Green Schools certification status earned by Los Altos and Mountain View High Schools, we are excited to continue to educate students about renewable energy,” says Mountain View Los Altos High School District Associate Superintendent for Business Services Joe White. “The 1.26MW solar system should provide enough power to meet nearly half of the district’s electrical needs and demonstrate why the Los Altos and Mountain View High Schools were one of the first high schools in the county to achieve Green School certification status.”
The 1.26MW solar PV system consists of two distinct systems installed on parking lot canopies: a 755kW system at the Mountain View High School campus and a 515kW system at the Los Altos High School campus. All of the solar panel modules have been installed at the two district sites and construction is expected to be complete by the middle of May 2011. The project was managed by Kramer Project Development Co., Inc. and constructed in phases to minimize the parking impact to students and faculty at the school campuses. The anticipated 39,302,704 kilowatt-hours (kWh) generated during the 25-year lifetime of the solar system is expected to save the district more than $12 million dollars in combined PG&E energy savings and rebates.