August 12, 2002
East Bay Business Journal

Sun helps police arrest expenses

A second East Bay police agency is using the sun to help power operations and reduce the costs of buying electricity from the grid. 

Vallejo turned on the ceremonial switch Tuesday on a 31-kilowatt rooftop solar array, installed by Sun Power & Geothermal Energy Co., Inc. (SPG) and Geothermal Energy of San Rafael, designed to help power the police headquarters near downtown and keep computers operating in a blackout.

The system cost $295,000 and was financed by $136,000 in state grants. Vallejo also is planning to build a 1-megawatt solar plant, among the nation's largest, near Gateway Plaza on the city's northeast side.

In Dublin, Pacific Gas and & Electric Co. is scheduled Wednesday to present a $1.6 million rebate check to Alameda County Supervisors for the 1.18-megawatt rooftop array, the nation's largest, that provides auxiliary to the Santa Rita Jail.

The $9.4 million project installed by PowerLight Corp. of Berkeley is estimated to save the county $15 million in power costs over its 25-year life. More than half the cost, $4.8 million, came from a combination of state and PG&E grants.