Solar Power Atop CA Prisons Saves Tax Payers Money
Prisons cost our society a disturbing amount of money. However, the prisons in California are going to be saving some money for the taxpayers thanks to the fact that solar power is going to be added atop their huge complexes. Prisons are vast in their physical size so it makes perfect sense to place solar power systems on them.
California has been exploring this option on a small scale for several years now. Back in 2006, Chuckawalla Valley State Prison in Blythe, California installed a 1 megawatt, 6400 panel solar array. A similar system was installed two years later in Ironwood State Prison, which is also in Blythe. These two systems provide the energy to meet nearly one quarter of the prisons' energy needs. At the time that these installations went up they were the largest that any U.S. prison facility had invested in. However, they are small potatoes compared to what's to come.
SunEdison, the largest solar energy services provider in all of North America, has just signed agreements with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to install solar power systems at five different prison facilities in Southern California (including expansions to the two aforementioned Blythe prisons).
Check out what this project will do once complete:
o This will add 83,000 solar panels to California's state prison system.
o This will result in nearly 23 megawatts of on-site solar-generated power.
o This is expected to result in taxpayer savings exceeding $55 million!
Construction of these solar projects is set to begin next year. That's big news for solar power!
Source: http://blogs.forbes.com/williampentland/2011/05/08/solar-power-california-adds-prisoner-amenity/
Publish Date: 2011-05-17 09:55:09
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