SunEdison Partners with California School District to Deliver 1.8 MW of Solar Power

SunEdison today announced a partnership with Rosedale Union School District (RUSD) in Bakersfield, Calif., to install, monitor and manage 1.8 MW of solar at the district’s nine schools. This solar energy and efficiency project is expected to save the district approximately $55,000 in year one and more than $2 million in energy costs over 20 years.

Solar shade canopies will be constructed in parking lots at the district’s schools, taking advantage of underutilized space to produce clean solar energy and provide needed shade for parking.  Scheduled for completion by the end of this year, the project is expected to significantly reduce electricity usage, freeing up funds for important academic and enrichment programs across the district. SunEdison will install, monitor and maintain the solar system at no additional expense to the district.

“Our partnership with SunEdison will allow Rosedale Union School District to maximize our use of clean energy, and significantly reduce our utility expenses from day one, while providing us with a fixed cost of energy for the next 20 years,” said John G. Mendiburu, Ed.D, Superintendent, Rosedale Union School District. “In addition to the cost savings and added value to the classroom, this project helps reduce our carbon footprint and create a sustainable and brighter future for our children.”

“Leaders of the Rosedale Union School District have shown forward-looking vision in meeting the energy needs of their growing community,” said Bob Hopper, Vice President Distributed Generation Origination & Strategy at SunEdison. “SunEdison works with progressive school districts across California to reduce energy costs and we look forward to partnering with other districts to realize energy efficiencies and funnel those savings back to the classroom.”

Nearly 5,000 SunEdison Silvantis modules will be installed as part of this project scheduled to begin in the summer of 2014. Once operational, the solar systems will be managed by the SunEdison Renewable Operation Center (ROC), which provides global 24/7 asset management, monitoring and reporting services. Data collected from the ROC is used to continuously improve the company’s products, project designs and service offerings.

— Solar Builder magazine

[source: http://solarbuildermag.com/news/sunedison-partners-california-school-district-deliver-1-8-mw-solar-power/]