Solar power to the people

CITY HALL ? A thin roof over the top level of Glendale Community College's planned parking structure will do more than protect students and their cars from the brutal California sun.

The City Council will decide Tuesday whether to put out bids for a proposed $2.8-million solar panel installation at the new structure, which is slated to begin construction in April and to be completed by July 2007. The system, which would be installed during construction on the fourth- and sixth-floor levels of the structure, would generate roughly 580,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity a year, according to a report from Glendale Water and Power.

That's enough to power between 100 to 150 homes for a year, said Craig Kuennen, a marketing manager for the public benefits programs at Glendale Water and Power.

The project is a joint venture between the college and Glendale Water and Power. Under the arrangement, the college would lease the space on the parking structure to the city for $1 a year for 50 years, and the city would in turn construct and maintain the system.

"We have been working with the college for several years on this, and we are very excited about it," Kuennen said, adding that while the city already gets about 14% of its energy from renewable sources such as wind and geothermal facilities, most of those sources are far away, such as Northern California.

"For us it was important to have something locally that people can actually see," he said. "Kids will be able to go and see this system. It is going to be a showcase system because nobody else is doing this on top of a parking lot, so it is going to be a unique installation."

The system will also help the department reach its state-mandated goal of getting 20% of its power from renewable sources by 2017, Kuennen said.

Glendale Community College already has a solar array installed over its Cimmarusti Science Center, but that system only generates 15 kilowatts, compared to the 400 kilowatts that will be generated by the new system, Kuennen said.

The new solar panels ? which would be connected directly to the college's power grid and would generate up to 10% of the campus' power ? could result in some minor savings on the college's electricity bill, though the contract calls for the college to pay standard Glendale Water and Power rates, said Steven White, college vice president of instructional services.