Feb 8 2011
The Canoga Park High School, housed in a century old building, will soon sport solar panels over its rooftop to generate clean energy.
The solar installation, costing around $1.5 million, will receive around $20 billion from the construction bond program of the school district and balance from the refund settlement of excess electricity charges of around $68 million received from the Department of Water and Power.
The 896 roof-top solar panels to be installed over the rooftop of the building will produce around 273 kW of solar electricity every year and will save the school district around $65,000 on its power charges. The power generated from the facility is sufficient to supply electricity to 30 homes. Though the power supplements only a fraction of the school districts’ 455 MW annual power requirement, it is anticipated to save around $112 million as utility expenses in a period of 20 years.
According to an official release, Francis Polytechnic Cleveland, Canoga Park, and four other Los Angeles Unified schools are expected to get solar power installation by the current year. The officials plan to erect nearly 60 solar power systems in the districts to generate around 21 MW of solar power by the year 2014.