The East Bay Regional Park District celebrated a major district-wide energy efficiency project with a ribbon-cutting ceremony last week for the new solar carport system at Shadow Cliffs Regional Recreation Area.
The system in Pleasanton is 1.2 megawatts in size and is expected to generate 1,900 megawatt-hours annually, nearly enough to offset electricity use by the entire district, according to EBRPD officials. The project also brings in three electric-car charging stations, a new recycled water line and the planting of native trees.
"We're thrilled to undertake this important project that will save energy, water and money for decades to come," EBRPD board president Beverly Lane said in a statement.
The project cost approximately $7.5 million, paid for through the district's general fund, with Oakland supplier Borrego Solar Systems, Inc. winning the bid to install the panels. Consulting firm Newcomb Anderson McCormick provided energy engineering and program management services.
According to EBRPD officials, the system will pay for itself through electricity savings in 14 to 17 years, and will provide much-needed shade to the Shadow Cliffs lot.
The ribbon-cutting at Shadow Cliffs on June 13 was attended by members of the public, EBRPD board members and staff, project consultants and local officials, including Pleasanton Mayor Jerry Thorne, Councilwoman Kathy Narum, City Manager Nelson Fialho and representatives from the offices of Assemblywoman Catharine Baker and State Sen. Steve Glazer.
Editor's note: Previous versions of this story included incorrect or incomplete figures for the annual energy output of the solar panels. EBRPD officials twice corrected their information to say that the system is 1.2 megawatts in size and is expected to generate 1,900 megawatt-hours annually.
Comments
Downtown
on Jun 21, 2017 at 5:46 pm
on Jun 21, 2017 at 5:46 pm
Now that solar is at shadow cliffs when are they getting some GREEN GRASS????
Del Prado
on Jun 21, 2017 at 5:57 pm
on Jun 21, 2017 at 5:57 pm
Perfect location for water slides! Oh yeh they tried that already, what a fiasco, great job on the solar panels heading in the right direction.
Pleasanton Valley
on Jun 21, 2017 at 6:02 pm
on Jun 21, 2017 at 6:02 pm
Haven't been there since the slides got booted. Be interesting to see if the parking fees taken at the gate went down and by how much.
Birdland
on Jun 21, 2017 at 6:07 pm
on Jun 21, 2017 at 6:07 pm
$7,500,000 to generate 1.2 megawatts? What a joke.
Birdland
on Jun 21, 2017 at 6:10 pm
on Jun 21, 2017 at 6:10 pm
Just for FYI Tesla uses 25 mega watts running load daily so 1.2 monthly is spitting in the ocean. We are being gamed.
Registered user
Downtown
on Jun 21, 2017 at 6:56 pm
Registered user
on Jun 21, 2017 at 6:56 pm
Seems like we got a good deal with the panels, carports, recycled water line and more trees + some recharging stations- money well spent for a change! Can't compare shadowcliff to Tesla, that's a huge auto manufacturing plant running 24 hours a day wonder what it cost for that system??
Bonde Ranch
on Jun 21, 2017 at 7:11 pm
on Jun 21, 2017 at 7:11 pm
And the best part is nobody uses Shadow Cliffs. Wonder how long before we are Illinois?
Pleasanton Meadows
on Jun 21, 2017 at 9:24 pm
on Jun 21, 2017 at 9:24 pm
Great idea, poor negotiation. Should be charging developers for these good improvements. They can cover the installation and engineering work instead of having to contract out.
Birdland
on Jun 24, 2017 at 9:32 am
on Jun 24, 2017 at 9:32 am
A payback in 14 to 17 years is just horrible! The panels will not even last that long. What a big waste of taxpayer money. Solar typically pay for itself in 6-8 years MAX. It is examples like this that proves that our elected officials cannot be trusted with out money.
I also want to know if the park district did a deal with PG&E on net-metering allowing the energy generated here to offset the meters of all park land. Typically when you have solar you cannot make a profit on the energy, even if you provide more than you consume.
Oak Hill
on Jun 25, 2017 at 8:19 am
on Jun 25, 2017 at 8:19 am
@local
I think that the probable reason for the longer payback is that the project not only has to pay for the solar panels themselves, but also the cost of the new steel and concrete carport structure that the solar panels are mounted on. Solar panels mounted onto the roofs of houses have a shorter payback because they only have to pay for themselves. The structure that they are mounted on (the roof of your house) is already there and not considered to be part of the payback equation.
Oak Hill
on Jun 25, 2017 at 8:28 am
on Jun 25, 2017 at 8:28 am
@Whattt :"Just for FYI Tesla uses 25 mega watts running load daily so 1.2 monthly is spitting in the ocean. We are being gamed."
Actually, the article isn't making much sense when it says "solar panels that can generate 1.2 megawatts of energy every year". Megawatts are not a measurement of energy. Megawatts are a measurement of power, or energy delivery per unit of time. If the author of the article wants to talk about how much energy the solar panels can deliver in a year, then she should have used a unit of energy such as megawatt-hours, not megawatts.
Del Prado
on Jun 26, 2017 at 9:40 am
on Jun 26, 2017 at 9:40 am
I'm so happy to see these wonderful solar panels at Shadowcliffs. Think how much fun our children will have playing on them versus how awful it would have been to spend that $7 Million on upgrading the waterslides. Think how many of our teenagers will be able to have summer jobs provided by the solar panels, not sure what those will be, but they will be great. I can't wait to take my kids to Shadowcliffs to wander under this solar wonder and reflect.