SAN MARCOS: University to get solar energy system

Campus is beneficiary of statewide agreement

By ANDREA MOSS - Staff Writer | Friday, October 24, 2008 6:09 PM PDT ∞

SAN MARCOS ---- Cal State San Marcos' efforts to use the sun to shrink the campus' energy bills got a major boost this week with the announcement of a deal that will bring a free solar energy system to the campus.

SunEdison, a Carlsbad-based solar service company, has agreed to install a 400-kilowatt solar energy system at the university early next year, at no charge.

The project is part of an agreement the Cal State University system and the state Department of General Services worked out with SunEdison.

Announced by the public university system's chancellor's office, the deal will see a total of 15 CSU campuses getting the solar energy systems.

The chancellor's office will also get one, as will hospitals and prisons throughout the state.

Chancellor's office spokesman Eric Fallis said Friday that SunEdison will install and maintain the systems and sell the energy they produce to the universities, he said.

"We're purchasing this power at or below existing power grid rates," said Fallis. "So that's actually a huge cost savings to us because renewable power can get really expensive. ... And we don't have to put any money into it upfront."

SunEdison is still designing the system to be installed at the San Marcos campus.

Ed Johnson, Cal State's director of facility services, said plans call for the solar panels to go on the roofs of campus buildings.

The system will produce 400 kilowatts of electricity per hour, or enough to cover up to one-third of the electricity needs at the campus on any given day, he said.

The savings will be welcome because the university spends about $1.6 million on electricity annually, Johnson said.

He also noted that electricity needs throughout California typically peak in the middle of the day.

"So it's actually a really, really good thing for the state and the community of San Diego because that's electricity that, during the highest demand time of the day, is not being taken from San Diego Gas & Electric," he said, referring to the electricity that will be produced by the solar system. "It gives San Diego Gas & Electric some relief ... and helps reduce the demand."

The university already has a small version of a new type of solar energy system that Vista-based company Sepcor installed in Parking Lot F. Used as a demonstration project, the system produces a small amount of electricity, Johnson said.

The campus also is planning a major conservation project aimed at reducing the amount of electricity it uses, he said.

"We have a portfolio approach on our energy management system," said Johnson. "So we're reducing energy, and we're trying to look for more environmentally friendly ways of producing electricity. So we're looking at photovoltaics for sure. And we're going to try to get as much as we can on our campus at as reasonable a price as possible."

Contact staff writer Andrea Moss at (760) 739-6654 or amoss@nctimes.com.