By Khalida Sarwari
Changes are afoot at schools in the Campbell Union High School District. This week, Del Mar and Westmont unveiled new solar parking structures as part of an initiative that district officials say will net a savings of about $765,000 a year in electricity costs.
Ribbon-cutting ceremonies to unveil the new energy-efficient structures took place at the two high schools this week, following the inaugural installation at Branham High School on Sept. 25.
Prospect, Leigh and Boynton are set to get them later this month and the district office will also go solar at a later date. The completion date for the project, which includes a security system, is slated for December.
“District-wide we are installing a 3.7-megawatt system,” superintendent Patrick Gaffney said.
The district, which had been spending nearly $900,000 a year on electricity, is estimating a savings of about 85 percent in its energy bill once all seven grids are online.
“The primary benefit of having these structures is the estimated annual general fund electricity savings of $765,000 or more,” said Gaffney. “The added benefits are becoming energy independent and providing shade for parking.”
The solar arrays also provide better lighting and security and block the rain during the wet season, said Gaylene Hinkle, an administrative assistant in the superintendent’s office.
She said that if in the future the district generates more electricity than it is using, it will be possible for PG&E to purchase that electricity. An estimated cost of about $2.6 million would then be credited back to the district.
The $18 million project was funded with the district’s capital reserves and a portion of the project was financed through Bank of America. The price tag is nearly half of the $34 million that Chevron had proposed to do the job.
The initiative to install a 3.7-megawatt system for a fraction of the cost was led by the district’s board of trustees in partnership with Enviroplex, which manufactured and installed the solar arrays, and Mark Bartos of Bartos Architecture, Inc., who donated the developed plans to the school district. Those plans were copyrighted and are now being marketed to other school districts, cities and private entities, with the revenues generated from the sale of the plans going toward the district’s college scholarship fund.
The district began integrating solar power as part of its first modernization campaign in 1999. Those efforts have included the integration of solar technology in its new science and agriculture buildings.
Here comes the sun to power up campuses in the Campbell Union High School District
