Second Rooftop in Southern California Edison’s Massive Solar Panel Installation Program Now Generating Power in Chino

Posted by EcoFriendly

Oct 21

ROSEMEAD, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The roof of a 458,000-square-foot industrial building in Chino, Calif. is now providing as much as one million watts of solar power to Southern California’s Inland Empire. This is the second installation in Southern California Edison’s (SCE’s) plan to place advanced solar panels on hundreds of otherwise unused commercial rooftops across Southern California. The Chino site is owned by the Multi-Employer Property Trust (MEPT) whose exclusive investment advisor is Kennedy Associates.

“The solar rooftop project is part of Southern California Edison’s 25-year commitment to developing cleaner renewable and alternative energy sources for our customers,” said SCE President John R. Fielder. “In addition to generating more clean power, this project will strengthen local grid reliability and produce hundreds of new green jobs to support Southern California’s economic recovery.”

During the next five years, SCE will install, own and operate 250 megawatts of solar generating capacity. The utility also will conduct competitive solicitations offering long-term power contracts to independent solar power providers who will install an additional 250 megawatts, bringing to 500 megawatts the total generating capacity of the project – the largest photovoltaic program ever undertaken.

“Promoting the use and generation of renewable energy is important to both MEPT and Kennedy Associates. Leasing unused roof space to SCE to generate renewable energy, while also creating ‘green collar’ union jobs, reinforces our commitment to responsible property investing,” said Preston Sargent, executive vice president and portfolio manager for MEPT.

Project Benefits

New generation sources to areas where customer demand is rising.
Renewable generation that can be connected quickly to neighborhood circuits while major new renewable energy transmission lines are being built such as SCE’s 4,500 megawatt Tehachapi Renewable Transmission Project.
The output of solar panels generally matches peak customer demand – lower in the morning and evening, higher in the afternoon.
The commercial rooftop solar project will allow SCE grid engineers to study the electrical effects of a high penetration of photovoltaics on distribution circuits. The information gained will be shared with the power industry.
SCE anticipates its solar power project will create as many as 800 new green jobs in Southern California in the solar industry. The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, one of SCE’s project partners, is supporting the project through the expansion of its solar installation apprentice training program.