The West Valley-Mission Community College District (WVMCCD) announced that they will install a fully integrated solar and storage project at West Valley College in Saratoga and Mission College in Santa Clara. WVMCCD has brought on Silicon Valley-based SunPower to bring the project online.
When installed, the SunPower Helix Carport systems will total 5.4 megawatts, allowing WVMCCD to offset approximately 75 percent of grid electricity use with solar energy. The Helix Storage systems, which are slated to be installed at each campus totaling a combined 2 megawatts (3,800 kilowatt-hours), will deliver significant demand charge savings to the District.
This is the second SunPower solar initiative for the District, according to WVMCCD Vice Chancellor of Administrative Services Ed Maduli. Since 2011, 2.2 megawatts of highly customized SunPower solar carports operating at both West Valley College and Mission College have generated an estimated $860,000 in electricity savings annually.
“Our district has a long-standing commitment to creating environmentally responsible and highly sustainable campuses,” said Maduli. “Renewable energy has proven to be a valuable investment and a critical component to reaching our goals and we look forward to building on our efforts with storage which will allow us to avoid expensive utility demand charges in the future.”
Solar-and-storage system construction is scheduled to commence this fall, with anticipated completion in 2020. The project is funded through Measure W which authorizes WVMCCD to issue bonds to help finance facility and technology updates. WVMCCD will own its solar power system with SunPower providing operations and maintenance.
“We congratulate West Valley-Mission Community College District for leading by example and taking control of energy costs with reliable solar and storage solutions from SunPower,” said Nam Nguyen, SunPower Executive Vice President, Commercial Solar. “We look forward to helping the District maximize its new solar investment and increase demand charge savings.”
To learn more, visit the West Valley-Mission Community College District website, www.wvm.edu.