SolarCity® today announced a 1.3-megawatt (MW) solar power project that will bring renewable energy to nine Martinez Unified School District (MUSC) schools and facilities. The solar installations, delivering environmental benefits to a city that naturalist and writer John Muir called home, are expected to save the district $442,000 on utility bills in their first year of operation and roughly $22.5 million over the next 20 years.
“Twenty years from now, the District will still be educating Martinez’s youth, and it will still be reaping the broad benefits of the current leadership’s decision to go solar”
A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the systems was held today at John Muir Elementary School, and featured remarks by representatives of SolarCity and the District. Attendees included District students, faculty and parents.
“In going solar, the District seeks to help the environment while teaching our students about the importance of conserving energy,” said Andi Stubbs, Chief Business Official for Martinez Unified School District. “However, the benefits go beyond clean energy: the savings provided by these nine solar power systems will be used to support valuable programs and services district wide.”
The solar power systems will offset 94 percent of the nine facilities’ electricity needs, provide clean electricity for use by the schools during the day, and reduce the need for expensive peak power utility production. Educationally, they will provide students with firsthand demonstrations of how solar technology works, and of solar energy’s benefits to the classroom, where students can view the school’s real-time energy production using SolarCity’s web-based monitoring, PowerGuide®.
Source: Business Wire