California’s Chico Unified School District is collaborating with SolarCity for the development of a 1.6MW solar power project that will be spread across five sites in the school district. Over 6,600 solar panels will be installed at Pleasant Valley High, Chico High, March Junior High, Chapman Elementary and the District’s corporate yard.
The five projects are expected to generate more than 2 million KW of solar electricity per year. SolarCity will finance, install, own and maintain the five solar power systems while the district will pay for the solar power under a 20-year PPA.
The two organizations additionally announced the launch of SolarChico, a community initiative that aims to give Chico residents and businesses that “go solar” with SolarCity throughout December 2011 a US$1,000 discount. The discount will be applied regardless of whether the solar system is leased or purchased. SolarCity is also offering Chico homeowners an evaluation of their home energy use and recommendations based off the evaluation for efficiency improvements for US$99.
“SolarChico can allow Chico homeowners and businesses to pay less for solar power than they pay for electricity from the utility company,” said Dennis Cox, SolarCity’s regional director in Central California and the Sacramento Valley. “We’re hopeful that Chico home and business owners will take advantage of this US$1,000 limited-time discount and follow the lead of the Chico Unified School District to save on their energy costs.”
The company has agreed to donate a portion of the SolarChico program revenues to the District and will hold free educational solar workshops throughout the region.
