SunEdison, Inc. (NYSE: SUNE), has completed three more solar car parking canopy systems; this time for the City of Fremont, California.
The solar canopies have been constructed over car parking lots at the city’s Irvington Community Center, the Aqua Adventure Water Park, and the Robert Wasserman Fremont Police Center.
At 1.2MW capacity collectively, the solar panels are expected to generate enough clean electricity to power the equivalent of almost 150 homes, while avoiding more than 500 tonnes of carbon emissions annually.
“These new solar projects are a major advantage for our city in more ways than one,” said Bill Harrison, Mayor of the City of Fremont. “Not only will they reduce the carbon footprint from all of Fremont’s operations by more than 5 percent, but they’re also projected to save us $2.6 million over the next 25 years! As an added bonus, the new solar panels will provide shade and rain protection for vehicles.”
Electricity generated by the solar panels is being sold under 20-year power purchase agreements (solar PPA‘s) with SunEdison as part of the Regional Renewable Energy Procurement Program (R-REP) led by Alameda County. R-REP includes 19 public agencies collaborating to acquire 31 MW of renewable energy capacity across 186 facilities.
Another solar canopy for Fremont is currently in design phase. The 349 kilowatt system will be built at the city’s maintenance center and final commissioning is expected during the first half of next year.
The Fremont PV arrays follow an even larger solar canopy project recently completed by SunEdison. In May, a massive 3.2 megawatt solar parking canopy was completed for Bristol Community College in Massachusetts.
In other recent SunEdison news, the company announced last week it had commissioned 1.2 megawatts of solar carport and rooftop systems at four government facilities in Coconino County, Arizona.
“This solar project meets multiple county objectives: it saves taxpayer dollars through smart fiscal planning, improves county infrastructure, and demonstrates our leadership in the deployment of renewable energy technologies,” said Art Babbott, Coconino County Board of Supervisors chair.
The solar arrays have been installed at King Street Community Services building, a law enforcement administration facility, a juvenile detention center and a correctional facility.
Coconino County estimates it will save USD $2.7 million over the term of the 25 year power purchase agreement.
Ongoing operation and maintenance of all the projects mentioned above will be carried out by SunEdison Services.
